DUP reverts to type on latest Brexit agreement – The Irish Times
The part of the Stormont brake of the new Windsor Framework Agreement, which allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to object to new EU rules, was specifically designed to do two things, according to insiders. First, to allay trade unionists’ concerns that they have no say in EU rules that may apply to trade in the north in the post-Brexit era. Second, to force the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) back into power-sharing.
The party has blocked the work of the power-sharing government in Stormont for more than a year in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol, the predecessor of the Windsor framework.
Without participation, the DUP could not apply the brakes. Under the mechanism, 30 members of the Assembly from two or more parties can pause the application of new EU legislation in Northern Ireland. It appeared to kill two birds at once and was widely hailed as a clever inclusion in the UK’s recent Brexit deal with the EU, which simultaneously eliminates economic red tape and acknowledges political sensitivities.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it wasn’t enough for the DUP. The party signaled yesterday that it will vote against the Windsor framework in the first of a series of votes in the UK Parliament. MPs have the opportunity to vote on the Stormont brake on Wednesday.
[ What is the DUP voting against in Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal? ]
“For us, for example, concerns remain and the Stormont Brake addresses the application of EU law in Northern Ireland, but does not address how we deal with changes in UK law that could affect Northern Ireland’s ability to trade within the UK itself,” DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC.
Donaldson said he would continue to work with the UK government on “unresolved issues”.
However, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he had no plans to change the deal, although he was ready to reassure the main union party about the deal with the European Union to ease post-Brexit trade.
It’s hard to gauge whether this is just the DUP being the DUP (objecting, stalling before they gradually acquiesce) or something more problematic that could lead to another political and economic gridlock in the North.
The party believes it has made crucial concessions by opposing several proposals to break an impasse that business say is hurting its prospects and the broader local economy. But it’s not obvious this time where any concessions will come from.