Brexit deal latest news: Rishi Sunak heads to Northern Ireland as Boris Johnson dangles threat

Rishi Sunak is expected to travel to Northern Ireland after securing a deal with the EU which he promised would mark a “watershed moment” for the region after years of post-Brexit tensions.

The new agreement, dubbed the Windsor Framework, removes barriers to trade across the Irish Sea and gives Stormont politicians a ‘veto’ over EU law.

But it still involves a role for the European Court of Justice, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Tory backbenchers now set to scrutinize the details of the complex accords in the coming days.

The Prime Minister is also expected to speak to backbench MPs today.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC’s Good Morning that the party would not rush into a decision on whether to support Rishi Sunak’s protocol treaty.

“Our party officials, our MPs, our MPs and ultimately even our party executive will determine the party’s course of action on this issue,” he said.

“We will consult and take our time. We will talk to the people, we will listen to them.”

When asked if the party was divided, Donaldson said, “Absolutely not.”

While Donaldson cautiously said there were “major concerns,” DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr. has said his “gut feeling” is that the deal “doesn’t cut the mustard.”

Rishi Sunak has said that implementing his Windsor framework would create for Northern Ireland “the most exciting economic zone in the world” with access to EU and UK markets.

Speaking at a factory in Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister said: “If we get this right, if we implement this framework, if we get the Executive back up and running here, Northern Ireland is in an incredibly special position – a unique position in the whole World, on the continent of Europe – through privileged access, not only to the UK home market, which is vast… but also to the European Union’s internal market.

“No one else has. No one. Only you guys: only here, and that’s the price.

“I can tell you, when I travel around the world and talk to companies, they know that – they say, ‘This is interesting. If you can pull that off then we want to invest in Northern Ireland because you won’t find that anywhere else.”

“This is, so to speak, the most exciting economic area in the world.”

The Government aims to work with international companies to help them “capture Northern Ireland’s very special position,” he added.

“And they are lining up for it, especially from the US.

Rishi Sunak acknowledged the shortages on supermarket shelves but insisted the situation is improving.

The Prime Minister, speaking at a factory in Northern Ireland to promote his Windsor Framework Agreement, said: “The hassle of getting a supermarket lorry from the UK to Northern Ireland was huge, hundreds of certificates, tons of red tape to get through.

“And worse, what was available on supermarket shelves in the UK – which I know is a bit challenging at the moment but getting better and better – but more generally was not available on the shelves in Northern Ireland, and it wasn’t right.

“And we’ve sorted out all those issues, there’s going to be the same things in both places, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

Watch live from Lisburn as Rishi Sunak attends a Q&A session during his trip to the city’s Coca-Cola plant.

He is in Northern Ireland after a historic deal was announced which he hopes will end the dispute over the law.

Rishi Sunak has acknowledged that the Windsor framework means EU law still has a “small and limited role” in Northern Ireland.

Asked about the DUP’s objections to some remaining EU legislation, Mr Sunak told BBC Radio 4 Today Program the role of EU law “only exists as long as people are happy with it”.

“What we did yesterday is introduce a new measure – the Stormont brake – which gives the Northern Ireland institution, Stormont, the power to say they will do it if there is a new law that takes people’s lives out the EU will be able to block it,” he said.

He said that EU law would only play “a small and limited role in Northern Ireland… we are talking about less than 3% of EU law that applies in Northern Ireland”.

Mr Sunak said he believed “hand on heart” that the Windsor framework addressed the concerns of the people of Northern Ireland.

Dubbed the Windsor Framework, the deal is long, complicated and is currently being doused by the Democratic Unionist Party, Tory backbenchers and businesses across Northern Ireland.

On your own The Independent On the front page, we applaud the Prime Minister for “finally” getting Brexit done.

The times And I hail the development as a “Brexit breakthrough” giving Britain the power to veto EU laws.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned there is little scope to make changes to Rishi Sunak’s deal with Brussels on post-Brexit trade arrangements with Northern Ireland.

Mr Cleverly told BBC Breakfast: “We don’t want to change that. It’s a finely balanced document. We have made the European Commission go very, very far from where it started.

“We appreciate their commitment and willingness to be flexible to help resolve some of the outstanding issues. We don’t want them to start changing things again.

“It’s really a good deal. I hope everyone recognizes how much we have achieved for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Asked who arranged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s meeting with the king, Mr Cleverly told Sky News: “Decisions about the king’s diary are rightly a matter for the palace.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has insisted his party is reasonable.

“We’re sensible people, but we want to make sure what the Prime Minister has said is consistent with what actually says in the agreement itself. Can it address the problem areas we identified in our seven tests?” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson cautiously welcomed the Stormont brake aspect of the protocol agreement.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the Stormont Brake Mechanism gives Northern Ireland’s devolved government “at first reading the ability to apply the brakes where the application of EU law for the purpose of facilitating cross-border trade affects us has ability to trade with the rest of the UK”.

Sir Jeffrey said Northern Ireland should have unhindered access to the UK market and if changes in EU law were to affect that “then it is right that Stormont has a brake and that ultimately we are able to oppose any new such legislation.” to veto”.

He insisted the brake would not be used for “trivial reasons”.

“We want to do this in circumstances where a change in law would affect our ability to trade with the rest of the UK and that is certainly not a trivial matter,” he added.