Edwin Poots denies DUP 'speaking out of both sides of its mouth' after farming subsidy appeal letter revealed

The accusation was made against Northern Ireland's unionist party after the Financial Times reported that Mr Poots, while serving as agriculture minister, had written in July last year to the UK environment secretary at the time George Eustice to say it was “unacceptable” farmers in Northern Ireland would be forced to accept the same agricultural subsidy regime as the rest of the UK.

Mr Poots has since defended his move and stressed the greater emphasis on agriculture in the local economy than other parts of the UK.

He, along with his party, has now come in for criticism from Sinn Fein who accuse the DUP of "talking from both sides of their mouth on the Protocol" as the refusal of the unionist party to re-enter power-sharing government at Stormont continues.

In his letter to the UK environment, food and rural affairs secretary, the Financial Times reports that Mr Poots had said it is "unacceptable" for the Protocol Bill to enforce the same farm subsidy scheme in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK.

The paper reports that Mr Poots had noted his "deep-seated" concerns over the Northern Ireland protocol but added that "in so far as agriculture is concerned, the state aid arrangements... of the protocol provide significant policy flexibility for Northern Ireland".

Speaking to the News Letter on Sunday, the former Agriculture Minister Mr Poots said he had requested the use of "World Trade Organisation state aid rules" and insisted it is important Northern Ireland is given "the right fix".

He said: "In terms of my request to use World Trade Organisation state aid rules for Northern Ireland argiculture, that comes against a backdrop of agriculture representing a five times greater proportion of the economy in Northern Ireland than it does in England. Therefore, it is important that we have the right fix. Whilst the Protocol Bill goes a long, long way towards amending a lot of the problems that come out of the Protocol, I had drawn this to Her Majesty's Government's attention."

Also on Sunday, Sinn Fein MP John Finucane, in a statement said: "The DUP have blocked an Executive being formed now for six months and told people that the Protocol needed to be scrapped in its entirety.

“Now, DUP MLA Edwin Poots, a so-called fierce critic of the Protocol, is lobbying to amend the Tory Protocol Bill to protect parts of the Protocol because of its benefits for farmers."

He continued: "This is the same DUP that originally welcomed the Protocol as a gateway of opportunity and then got spooked by opinion polls into railing against it. Edwin Poots himself was Minister in the department implementing border control checks for over a year before trying to halt them."

He added: “The DUP are talking from both sides of their mouth on the Protocol."

Asked to respond to those comments, Mr Poots denied his party has been speaking out of both sides of its mouth, saying: "We're very clear that the Protocol is hugely detrimental to the Northern Ireland population, both economically and constitutionally. It is undemocratic in that it derives its laws from a parliament made up of 27 countries which doesn't include Northern Ireland, but the laws will apply to Northern Ireland. The laws that are being given are being given by the European Union's European Court of Justice, not the UK's Supreme Court. And for all of those things, it is wholly and totally unacceptable, and will remain so until the necessary changes are made."

Mr Finucane, meanwhile, had also said it is "unforgivable that the DUP have held up a support payment for people who are struggling to pay their bills and blocked investment in our health service".

Mr Poots, however, said: "If Sinn Fein are genuinely interested in the cost-of-living, they will be genuinely concerned that we are spending £12 million per month supporting businesses with paperwork which is unnecessary, and that we're spending £10 million having checks at the ports currently per annum - against a backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis."

He added: "This is to implement 20% of the Northern Ireland Protocol because the grace periods have ensured that the vast majority of the Protocol is not actually being implemented."