A deal that would allow a return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland is still possible in the coming days, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said, but it will require further concessions from Brussels.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that he had been encouraged by the progress that had been made in talks with the UK Government on the Northern Ireland Protocol, saying “lines have been crossed” by the EU side which it had previously refused to countenance.
However, he said Brussels needed to accept that goods traded within Northern Ireland were subject to UK laws and standards, and not those of the EU, if there was to be an agreement that would allow his party to return to power-sharing at Stormont.
In judging the progress I believe has been made so far, I think lines have been crossed— Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
“It is possible given the level of progress that has been made and the principles that have already, I’m told, been agreed the outstanding issues could be resolved within the next few days,” he told reporters at Westminster.
“In judging the progress I believe has been made so far, I think lines have been crossed. Therefore, that suggests to me there is the potential to resolve this issue.”
He added: “We can’t have a situation where businesses in Northern Ireland are able to bring goods in from Great Britain and sell them as UK standard products, and make the same product themselves in Northern Ireland but they are required to make them to EU standards.
“That is not acceptable.”
Sir Jeffrey was speaking after briefing members of the Tory Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) on his talks last week in Belfast with Rishi Sunak on the latest negotiations with the EU on the protocol.
He said that his party, which walked out of the Stormont executive in protest at the protocol – which governs post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, would need to see a legal text before they could agree to support any new agreement.
He added: “We recognise that progress has been made. There is still some way to go. There are still some very key issues that need to be resolved.
“We will work with the Government to make sure that we get the right outcome – an outcome that respects Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and its internal market.”
His comments were echoed by ERG chairman Mark Francois, who insisted that they wanted to see a resolution to the long-running dispute over the application of the protocol.
He said: “Any MP worth their salt if they are asked to vote on a deal wants to be able to read it first. That’s not unreasonable. That ultimately means a legal text.”
A number of members of the ERG have warned that they would not be prepared to support an agreement in a Commons vote unless it is acceptable to the DUP.
If it was not, it could mean that Mr Sunak would have to rely on Labour votes to get it through – something that he would almost certainly want to avoid given the damaging impact on his premiership.
Government insiders still believe a deal could be struck in the coming days, but acknowledged it would slip to next week if not concluded by the one-year anniversary of the start of the Ukrainian conflict on Friday.
Earlier Mr Sunak told the weekly Cabinet meeting that “intensive negotiations with the EU continue on resolving the issues with the way the protocol was being enforced”, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Negotiations have progressed and that is to be welcomed, but there still remain a number of unresolved issues.”
Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Mr Sunak of imitating Theresa May’s doomed Brexit strategy.
The prominent Brexiteer questioned why “so much political capital” was being spent on brokering a new deal without ensuring the DUP and the ERG were on board first.
On his ConservativeHome podcast, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “There seems to me to be no point in agreeing a deal that does not restore powersharing.
“That must be the objective. If it doesn’t achieve that objective, I don’t understand why the Government is spending political capital on something that won’t ultimately succeed.
“I don’t know why so much political capital has been spent on something without getting the DUP and the ERG onside first.”
He said it was “very similar to what happened with Theresa May” where a policy would be presented in the hope that people would “conveniently fall in behind” it.
“Life doesn’t work like that. It’s important to get support for it first before you finalise the details and that doesn’t seem to have been done here,” he said.
