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Smiling Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen launched the hard sell this afternoon after shaking hands on new Brexit rules for Northern Ireland.
The PM and EU commission president hailed the package at a press conference after confirming the culmination of months of painstaking negotiations.
Mr Sunak said they had achieved a ‘decisive breakthrough’ and forged a ‘Windsor Framework’ – named after the location of their talks.
He promised ‘smooth flow of trade’ between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, with UK VAT, customs and medicines rules applying in the province. He argued that the minimum of EU rules would be followed to avoid a hard border with the Republic, and a ‘Stormont Brake’ will mean laws cannot be forced on the province.
Mr Sunak insisted the settlement could open a ‘new chapter’ in ties with Brussels, although he acknowledged the DUP will want to ‘consider the detail’ and the government will ‘give them time and space to do that’.
The premier declared that a Commons vote will be held – but suggested it might not happen quickly.
‘I believe we have found ways to end the uncertainty and challenge for the people of Northern Ireland,’ Mr Sunak said.
Downing Street has boasted of ‘significant and far reaching’ concessions, and there are bombshell rumours this afternoon that the DUP is ready to shift position and accept the agreement.
The reports come despite the unionists having set red lines that looked very difficult to meet – including completely removing the role of the European Court of Justice. Having the DUP on board would pave the way for the restoration of powersharing at Stormont.
Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson played down the claims in the Irish News, tweeting: ‘We’ll take our time to consider the detail and measure a deal against our seven tests.’
In other positive noises for Mr Sunak, Northern Ireland minister and self-styled ‘Brexit hard man’ Steve Baker – who has been on ‘resignation watch’ over the past few days – said this afternoon that the government is on the verge of a ‘fantastic’ deal.
Cabinet signed off the plans this afternoon, after the one hour and 45 minute meeting between Mr Sunak and Ms von der Leyen.
But Mr Sunak could still face a rough ride from Tories when he makes a statement to the Commons this evening.
The PM’s allies are waiting nervously to see how Boris Johnson will react to the revised terms, with fears he could intervene in the debate.
Meanwhile, the government is facing a furious backlash for dragging the King into the political pressure-cooker – as Charles will meet Ms von der Leyen separately this afternoon during her visit.
Rishi Sunak (left) said he and Ursula von der Leyen (right) had achieved a ‘decisive breakthrough’ and forged a ‘Windsor Framework’ – named after the location of their talks
Rishi Sunak has thrashed out a ‘Stormont lock’ designed to give Northern Ireland a say – but not a veto – over new EU trade laws that will continue to apply
Ms von der Leyen and Mr Sunak held around an hour and 45 minutes of talks in Windsor today
Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker was in Downing Street again today, amid rumours that whips have put him on ‘resignation watch’
The Windsor hotel being used as a venue for the talks this afternoon
Mr Sunak tweeted ahead of the meeting with Ms von der Leyen
Jeffrey Donaldson tried to cool claims the DUP is ready to back the PM’s Brexit deal for NI
Former Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries dismissed the warm words from Mr Baker
Brussels is thought to have agreed to ditch checks and paperwork on almost all goods and produce sent from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland. Red and green customs channels will be used to distinguish what is bound for the province and the Republic, which remained inside the EU
Mr Sunak is believed to have secured a package that removes single market rules from 90 per cent of products made in Northern Ireland, as long as they are not bound for the EU.
Although Northern Ireland might still be covered by future EU legislation, there will be a democratic mechanism – a ‘Stormont Brake’ – intended to ensure the province’s politicians have a say and consultation with London.
In one of the potential flashpoints, the European Court of Justice will stay as the final arbiter on single market rules in Northern Ireland. But there will be protections designed to demonstrate that cases cannot be referred directly by the EU.
Mr Sunak appears to have had a crucial win by persuading the bloc that the text of the protocol should be tweaked – something it had previously refused to do.
Sir Jeffrey said before the announcement: ‘I’m neither positive nor negative. I think we need to take time to look at the deal, what’s available, and how does that match our seven tests.’
Mr Sunak said: ‘For a quarter of a century the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement has endured because at its heart it is respectful to the aspirations and identity of all communities. Today’s agreement is about preserving that delicate balance and charting a new way forward for the people of Northern Ireland.
‘Today’s agreement delivers the smooth flow of trade within the United Kingdom. Goods destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new green lane with a separate red lane for goods at risk of moving on to the EU.
‘Food retailers like supermarkets, restaurants and wholesalers will no longer need hundreds of certificates for every lorry and we will end the situation where food made to UK rules could not be sent to and sold in Northern Ireland. This means that if food is available on supermarket shelves in Great Britain, then it will be available on supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland.’
Referencing the process of sending parcels and VAT, he said: ‘This means we have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea. Second, we have protected Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.’
Tory Eurosceptics were largely keeping their powder dry this morning.
But Mr Baker moved to quash rumours he will quit after another bout of talks in No10.
He told broadcasters: ‘I can only say this: that the Prime Minister is on the cusp of securing a really fantastic result for everyone involved.’
In a round of interviews this morning, Jacob Rees-Mogg did not rule out backing the plan, but suggested Mr Sunak will fail to win over the DUP.
The ex-Cabinet minister told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘There are two things we need to know: one is what the DUP thinks, because the protocol itself sets out in its first article that it is subsidiary to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement.
‘So, if the DUP doesn’t think that it meets test, that will be very influential among Conservative MPs.
‘I’m afraid with all the EU deals the devil is in the detail, so when people say ‘we need to see the legal text’, they are not larking about, they really want to see it to understand what the effect is.’
Ms von der Leyen is also holding talks with King Charles during her visit to Windsor.
That has caused a wave of anger among DUP and Eurosceptic figures that the monarch is being dragged into the contentious politics of Brexit.
Buckingham Palace seemed to point the finger at ministers by saying the government had advised that the King should meet the visiting dignitary.
Ex-DUP leader Arlene Foster tweeted: ‘I cannot quite believe that No10 would ask HM the King to become involved in the finalising of a deal as controversial as this one.
‘It’s crass and will go down very badly in NI. We must remember this is not the King’s decision but the Government who it appears are tone deaf.’
Mr Rees-Mogg said was ‘constitutionally unwise’ for the King to meet EU chief Ursula von der Leyen around the signing of the new post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.
The leading Conservative Brexiteer said: ‘It is surprising that the King will meet Ursula von der Leyen today as it antagonises the people the Prime Minister needs to conciliate.
‘It is also constitutionally unwise to involve the King in a matter of immediate political controversy.’
The PM’s official spokesman said Rishi Sunak believes ‘fundamentally’ the decision was for Buckingham Palace.
‘He firmly believes it’s for the King to make those decisions,’ the official said.
‘It’s not uncommon for His Majesty to accept invitations to meet certain leaders, he has met President Duda and President Zelensky recently. He is meeting with the president of the EU today.’
Asked why the final protocol talks were taking place in Windsor, the spokesman said: ‘There are a number of occasions when these sorts of talks have been held in significant occasions, this is no different.’
Downing Street has stressed that there are still substantive issues for the PM and Ms von der Leyen to address this afternoon, although they are thought to have tied up the main elements in talks by phone yesterday.
Irish deputy leader Micheal Martin has praised ‘very significant and substantial progress’ in protocol negotiations between the UK and EU.
‘I think we’ll leave it to both the President of the Commission and the British Prime Minister to announce whatever has to be announced this afternoon, but I think it’s clear that very significant progress has been made,’ he told RTE Radio.
‘Over the last number of months, trust did build up between the two parties. Very substantial and serious negotiations have taken place in fairly significant detail, working up fairly substantive papers.’
Mr Martin said the customs data agreement struck earlier this year was a ‘gamechanger’ that ‘facilitated a new fresh approach to that issue’.
The foreign affairs minister said the primary concerns that have been articulated by unionism in particular – include the bureaucratic barriers to goods being sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the ‘democratic deficit’ on what input Northern Ireland would have on any future EU regulations, and state aid issues – had been heard.
‘All of these issues, I think, have been responded to. I think the European Union has listened,’ he said.
In an ominous intervention last week, Boris Johnson (pictured today) told the PM that the ‘best way forward’ would be to take unilateral legal powers to scrap the EU’s trade checks in Northern Ireland
Ms von der Leyen and Mr Sunak chat as they go into the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel today
EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen took the Eurostar to London ahead of the meeting with the PM in Windsor
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (left) and Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden (right) were in Downing Street for the Cabinet meeting this afternoon
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt was at the Cabinet discussion to sign off the deal today
Ms von der Leyen will also hold talks with King Charles – raising fears that the monarch is being dragged into politics
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster was scathing about the decision to tie in a meeting between Ms von der Leyen and the King
Northern ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris in Downing Street today
What is the Brexit row about and what has been the impact on Northern Ireland?
The UK and the EU have been engaged in intense negotiations over the workings of the Northern Ireland Protocol of the original withdrawal agreement that allowed the UK to leave the EU.
It was designed to ensure the free movement of goods across the Irish land border with Ulster after Brexit.
Rather than being an internal EU line between two countries, with Brexit it became a border between the bloc and a third party country with different customs and trade rules.
In any other cases it would be solved simply by creating a ‘hard’ border – physical checks on vehicles and people travelling between the two.
But the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of violence in 1998, expressly prohibits a return to such checkpoints on the island of Ireland.
To get around this the protocol instead created economic barriers on trade being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
It has proven to be deeply unpopular with unionists, who claim it has weakened Northern Ireland’s place within the UK.
Last year the DUP collapsed the powersharing institutions at Stormont in protest at the arrangements. It came as the party was replaced as the largest in the powersharing government by Sinn Fein for the first time.
And the DUP is refusing to back a deal and restart powersharing unless their concerns are realised. They have set seven tests that it must pass to be approved.
Mr Sunak has said the deal ‘will show that Brexit truly works and will finish the job’, adding: ‘This deal will work better for business and communities and get goods moving.
‘It will resolve the issues so we can all move forward. This will give Northern Ireland control of their own destiny. This is something very positive.’
The package is expected to include a ‘Stormont lock’ designed to give Northern Ireland a say – but not a veto – over new EU trade laws that will continue to apply in the province.
The PM held private talks in No 10 with Mr Baker yesterday in a sign of concern about resignations, while a survey by the grass-roots Conservative Home website found Tory activists oppose the idea of Mr Sunak’s plan by 41 per cent to 36.
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost has urged the PM to revive the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, saying it was vital to be ‘really tough’ with Brussels.
The European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs has said it will establish a ‘star chamber’ of lawyers to examine whether the new deal meets their sovereignty tests.
Meanwhile, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said it was a ‘red line’ for his party that ‘there should be no EU law applying to this part of the UK’.
Cabinet ministers, who will be formally briefed on the plans this afternoon, were last night ringing round Conservative MPs to shore up support.
Mr Sunak is expected to unveil the details in a statement to Parliament this afternoon.
However, there has been concern that MPs have not yet been guaranteed a vote on the deal.
Some are concerned that they have been left in the dark during talks.
One MP claimed Downing Street had kept them out of the loop to ‘set everything up’ and present the deal as ‘a fait accompli’.
Downing Street has not fully committed to giving Parliament a vote on the agreement, as demanded by the European Research Group (ERG), made up of Eurosceptic Tory MPs.
No10 has been warned that rebels will force an indicative vote whether they want one or not.
The PM will tell MPs that his deal will secure Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and protect the future of the Good Friday Agreement.
It is expected to lead to the scrapping of a barrage of EU checks on goods sent to the province from the rest of the UK, which have caused major problems for businesses and families, and led to unionist fears that Northern Ireland could be forced out of the UK.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Mr Sunak was ‘on the cusp’ of a deal that would result in the ‘substantial scaling back’ of the role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Mr Raab said the deal would mark a ‘paradigm shift’ in relations and ‘would be very good news for the communities of Northern Ireland and I think for the Good Friday Agreement as well’.
Ministers are optimistic that they can win over most Eurosceptic Tory MPs with a deal which Mr Raab said would ‘properly and fully get Brexit done’ and open the door to warmer relations with the EU.
But senior figures in the DUP warned that they were not yet convinced the deal would deliver enough to persuade them to re-enter power-sharing in Northern Ireland, a key objective of the PM.
And some Tory Eurosceptics said they would struggle to support a deal that was not supported by the DUP and which left the EU with a toehold in the UK.
In an ominous intervention last week, Boris Johnson told the PM that the ‘best way forward’ would be to take unilateral legal powers to scrap the EU’s trade checks in Northern Ireland.
Mr Sunak yesterday said he was ‘giving it everything we’ve got’ to get a deal.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, the PM said his new agreement was not a threat to Brexit but about ‘making sure Brexit works in every part of the UK’.
Last night, neither No 10 nor Buckingham Palace would comment on whether the King would meet Mrs von der Leyen today.
Details of a planned meeting on Saturday, which was cancelled for ‘operational reasons’, raised concerns that No 10 was hoping to give the deal the impression of royal approval to head off opposition.
The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that the King’s first overseas trip will be to Berlin and Paris, in a break from the tradition of using the inaugural visit to travel to a Commonwealth country.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said it would be ‘wrong if Downing Street has applied pressure on the King’ over a highly political issue. And Mr Wilson warned No 10 against a ‘cynical use’ of the King’s position.
ERG chairman Mark Francois said the concessions did not appear to go far enough, and he would accept a deal only if ‘EU law is expunged from Northern Ireland’. ‘Less of a role is not enough.
‘Just putting a couple of intermediate phases in but in a situation where you still end up with the European Court of Justice is effectively sophistry. We’re not stupid.’
DUP MP Ian Paisley said: ‘If the PM’s plan involves keeping any part of the protocol, the DUP will not be going back into power-sharing.
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