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Fears of a new wave of violence in Northern Ireland linked to loyalist opposition to the Brexit protocol were prompted today after a double-decker bus was hijacked and set on fire in a town close to Belfast.
The incident happened in Newtownards at dawn, with local press reporting the men cited the Northern Ireland protocol during the attack, raising concerns it may be linked to today’s date of 1 November.
At approximately 6.30am, two masked and armed men boarded the bus and poured fuel over the vehicle before setting it alight. The driver managed to get off the bus unharmed but has been left badly shaken by the incident.
Those threats are completely unwarranted. We allocated the fishing licences completely in line with what is in the trade agreement with the EU and the French need to withdraw those threats.
Otherwise we will use the dispute resolution mechanism in the EU deal to take action.