Deal is not negotiable, Sunak tells the DUP

British Prime Minister appeals to his Tory MPs to back him and finally ‘get Brexit done’.

Rishi Sunak visits the Coca-Cola factory in Lisburn on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appealed to Tory MPs to back him and finally “get Brexit done” as he pledged on Tuesday to push ahead with or without the support of the Democratic Unionist Party.

In an impassioned plea to critics in his party Mr Sunak also warned MPs that if they rejected his compromise with the EU, voters would doubt their ability to “deliver on other issues” before the next election.

He insisted that the agreement struck on Monday fulfilled the central pledge of the Brexit referendum by giving Northern Ireland, as well as the rest of the UK, “control” of its laws. Mr Sunak indicated that he was prepared to push ahead without the DUP’s endorsement, saying the agreement was not about political parties but what was best for the people of Northern Ireland.

Downing Street has privately said that the deal is not open to renegotiation or amendment and that the DUP would have a straight choice between accepting it or not. Jeffrey Donaldson, its leader, said the party would “take our time” before deciding.

Unionist sources said that the party’s officers, who will make a decision on its position, were split, with members of the Stormont assembly more strongly in favour of returning to power-sharing while the party’s MPs in Westminster took a harder line.

“The deal on offer is probably at the upper end of realistic expectations,” one said. “But there are lots of unrealistic expectations within the party as well.”

Mr Sunak’s deal was warmly received at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers. The European Research Group of Eurosceptics has yet to come to a position, however, and has resurrected its “star chamber” of lawyers to comb through the detail.

Boris Johnson is weighing up the deal but three close allies said that they did not expect the former prime minister to oppose it.

“Boris will row in behind this deal because there’s no rebellion,” one said. “He doesn’t want to be an outlier. If he ends up voting with 12 to 15 other people he will look silly.”

Mr Sunak told Tory MPs he had “spent a lot of time” with Sir Jeffrey and that he and the DUP should be given “time and space”. There was a “spectrum of views” and it was important not to “pressure them for an instant answer”. He said that the public did not want another Westminster drama.

Mr Sunak spent the day in Northern Ireland meeting businesses and leaders of some of the province’s political parties.

At a Coca-Cola factory in Lisburn, he said the deal would create “the world’s most exciting economic zone” with access to EU and UK markets. “Nobody else has that. No one. Only you guys, only here. That’s the prize.”

The Labour MP Stella Creasy accused him of “boasting” about the benefits of the single market for businesses in Northern Ireland while denying those benefits to businesses “struggling in the rest of the UK”.

THE TIMES