New Brexit deal a big ask for PM
Rishi Sunak faces the biggest test of his premiership next week as he prepares to push ahead with a new Brexit deal despite significant reservations among Eurosceptic Conservative MPs.
The British prime minister held talks with European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen overnight, after what he said was a ‘‘positive’’ meeting with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
While Sunak emphasised that there was ‘‘more work to do’’, preparations are under way in
Downing Street for the deal to be announced tomorrow and put before the House of Commons the next day.
European Commission vicepresident Maros Sefcovic said relations between the European Union and Britain were the best since Brexit.
However, the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs has significant reservations about the plans, and has yet to be consulted by No 10. It is particularly concerned about the role of the European Court of Justice.
David Jones, deputy chairman of the ERG, said: ‘‘If the situation remains that Northern Ireland is automatically absorbing a large quantity of EU law without input from elected representatives, and is still subject to the European Court of Justice, it won’t resolve the difficulties.’’
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it was a ‘‘big moment’’, and that ‘‘progress has been made across a range of areas’’.
‘‘We have not yet seen the final text of an agreement,’’ Donaldson said. ‘‘Clearly, there will be further discussions between the UK Government and the European
Union . . . there are still some areas where further work is required.’’
Sunak promised that he would work ‘‘intensely’’ with Brussels to secure a deal, and ‘‘to find solutions that protect the Belfast Good Friday agreement and Northern Ireland’s place in our single market’’.
The deal is modelled largely on British proposals for a system of green and red lanes that would allow goods destined for Northern Ireland to enter without routine checks. Goods for export to the Republic of Ireland would be subject to customs formalities at Northern Irish ports.
No 10 is weighing up whether to put the deal before the Commons regardless of whether the DUP has given its public support. One Whitehall source said the timetable was already ‘‘immoveable’’, provided the DUP did not publicly oppose the plans. However, another source said: ‘‘The optics of not giving the DUP a vote on their future are terrible.’’
Sefcovic told EU ambassadors that his biggest concern was whether Sunak would be able to sell his deal in the United Kingdom.