Rishi Sunak ready to defy DUP over Northern Ireland Brexit trade deal

British PM Rishi Sunak would be willing to press ahead with a Brexit deal even if it did not get the support of the Democratic Unionist Party.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Picture: Getty Images

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would be willing to press ahead with a Brexit deal even if it did not get the support of the Democratic Unionist Party.

In a challenge to the Conservative right, which believes any agreement with Brussels to change the Northern Ireland Protocol must gain the approval of the DUP, Mr Sunak is prepared to decide for himself whether the deal works for the province.

British and European negotiators remain in intensive dialogue amid optimism that the long dispute over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements is coming to an end.

The government is increasingly positive about keeping the DUP on board – but would not necessarily see their objections as a fatal blow to the negotiations. A Whitehall source said that it would be “unhelpful” to “set a bar that is not necessarily in the interests of those we are trying to negotiate for”.

Eurosceptic MPs made clear on Sunday that they expected the revised protocol to have the backing of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party.

David Jones, deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, said: “I think the government has got to get the DUP on board before we go much further. What the government does not want is to come to any agreement with the EU and then find that the institutions in Northern Ireland are not restored. Of course the DUP holds the key to that. If that doesn’t happen, the whole exercise will have been futile.”

Should an agreement be reached, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is likely to visit London for a formal meeting with Mr Sunak to mark the accord, The Times has been told. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Munich security conference at the weekend.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s chief whip, warned on Sunday night that progress had been “very slim”. He told Channel 4 News: “The fundamental issues have not been addressed.”

The Northern Ireland Protocol has been a source of tension since it came into force at the start of 2021. Disagreements over the protocol have stopped the ­Northern Ireland Assembly ­functioning.

The protocol is a trading arrangement, negotiated during Brexit talks. It allows goods to be transported across the Irish land border without the need for checks.

Before Brexit, it was easy to transport goods across this border because both sides followed the same EU rules.

After the UK left, special trading arrangements were needed because Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the EU.

The land border is a sensitive issue because of Northern Ireland’s troubled political history. It was feared that cameras or border posts – as part of these checks – could lead to instability.

The UK and the EU agreed that protecting the Northern Ireland peace deal – the Good Friday Agreement that ended 30 years of civil strife between Republicans and Unionists – was an absolute priority.

So, both sides signed the protocol as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. It is now part of international law.

The Times