OFFICIAL figures that show the rate of economic growth in Northern Ireland lagging behind parts of Britain illustrates how the protocol is harming the region "economically and constitutionally", Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has claimed.
The DUP leader was speaking after the latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) indicated that the north's economy grew by 1 per cent in the final three months of last year, compared to the previous quarter.
The average rate of growth across the UK was 1.3 per cent, with Wales and Scotland each growing by 1.6 per cent.
Of the eight regions in England, growth was greater in three than in Northern Ireland, and less in five.
Earlier estimates suggested that Northern Ireland had out-performed all regions in England except London in the third quarter of 2021. However, the revised data suggests growth of 1.2 per cent was equal to the north-east of England and marginally less than both the north-west and Yorkshire and the Humber.
The data published yesterday also showed that last year there were more than one million full declarations for movements of goods into Northern Ireland from Britain.
Sir Jeffrey said the volume of declarations was "constitutionally wrong".
He said 95 per cent of the businesses depended on the Trader Support Scheme for help paperwork and that the scheme was "costing almost one million pounds per day".
"That money would be better spent elsewhere in our public services if the protocol was replaced by sensible arrangements," he said.
The ONS data published today also points to Northern Ireland lagging behind other UK regions in terms of economic growth.
The DUP leader said the Stormont parties who "cling to and defend" the protocol needed to make clear why they supported it.
"They must want to destroy Northern Ireland’s economy and bury our supply chains under a mountain of protocol paperwork," he said.
