Rishi Sunak has eulogised Northern Ireland’s “unique” and privileged position in having easy trade access to both the UK and EU markets – prompting critics to note that this was the case for the entire country before Brexit. In comments that could potentially antagonise hardline Conservative Brexiters – who suspect Sunak could secretly welcome a shuffle towards closer EU single market access – the prime minister used an event in Northern Ireland to talk up what he called “the prize that is on offer” with his post-Brexit protocol. Speaking at a Coca-Cola factory in Lisburn, he said: “If we get this right, if we get this framework implemented, we get the executive back up and running, Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position, the unique position in the entire world in having privileged access not just to the UK home market, which is the fifth biggest in the world, but also the European Union single market. “Nobody else has that. No one – only you guys only here. And that is the prize. I can tell you, when I go around the world and talk to businesses, they say: ‘That’s interesting.’ Nowhere else does that exist. It’s like the world’s most exciting economic zone.” In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Sunak made a similar point, saying Northern Ireland now had “this very special position where it has access to the UK market, has access to the EU market, which makes it an incredibly attractive place to invest for businesses”. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who chairs the Labour Movement for Europe, said while Sunak was correct about Northern Ireland, this had previously been the case for the entire UK. “The prime minister is boasting about the benefits of the single market and customs union for businesses in Northern Ireland, while denying those same benefits to businesses struggling in the rest of the UK with our current economic crisis,” she said. “We don’t have to rejoin the European Union to rebuild our relationship with our neighbours when it comes to trade, but we do need to remind those who brag about Brexit and why they support it of the real cost to our economy and our country it has created.” Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “It’s galling to see the Conservatives patting themselves on the back for reversing some of the damage done by their disastrous deal. “This could be a welcome step forward but there’s a still a long way to go to repair our relationship with Europe. The reality remains that the Conservatives erected immense barriers to trade between the UK and the EU. Farmers, fishermen and small businesses across Britain remain tied up in red tape and the Conservative government are doing nothing to help them.” In a tweet, the anti-Brexit campaign Best for Britain noted: “Sunak in Belfast emphasises what ‘a hugely privileged position’ it is to have access to both EU and UK markets, and how it is definitely worth the relatively small trade-off of following some Brussels regulation. Why not extend this ‘fantastic deal’ to the whole country? Oh.”