DUP leader Edwin Poots is to legally challenge the NI Protocol and has insisted he will not build any permanent infrastructure to help implement it.
In a statement released last night, Mr Poots set out his 'dual agenda' on removing the Brexit protocol agreement while protecting Northern Ireland's place in "the union".
Following his first week in post, the Lagan Valley MLA described the protocol, which created a trade border down the Irish Sea that requires checks and controls on goods moving between Britain and the north, as "bad for business" and "bad for every one of our citizens".
"Those who argued the protocol was a 'win win' are as silent on that as they are about their demands for 'rigorous implementation'. All of us who want to make Northern Ireland work must speak with one voice against the absurd barriers placed on trade with our biggest market," he said.
"I will not be building any permanent infrastructure, rather I am commencing the process to remove what has already been imposed using the courts and politics to make the case. Every unionist is not just opposed to the economic burdens but reject the implications for our sovereignty as part of the UK."
He said he wanted to make clear his desire to work with others and indicated his support in setting up a Unionist Convention to focus on key objectives.
"The union is of critical importance to all our wellbeing. Those campaigning to end the union would leave our citizens poorer and damage our key public services."
