Rishi Sunak held overnight talks with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, fuelling fresh speculation that the UK is nearing a deal with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol.
They spoke on the phone on Tuesday night about the progress of negotiations and agreed to speak again in the coming days, Sunak’s spokesperson said.
The prime minister was due to have a video call with business leaders on Wednesday afternoon, suggesting that the EU and the UK are at the end stages of negotiations.
The talks followed a separate afternoon meeting between the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, and the European commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič.
It is the second time in five days Sunak and Von der Leyen have spoken.
However, there are no discussions planned for Thursday, and Von der Leyen is supposed to be in Italy, suggesting it is less likely she will travel to London.
Sunak said the deal would meet the demands of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) – which wants radical changes to ensure that Northern Ireland has a role in making the EU rules that apply to trade as part of the Brexit arrangements – but refused to say whether the deal would involve reopening the wider withdrawal agreement.
He also declined to confirm whether MPs would have a vote on any deal, during prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons.
The DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who met Eurosceptic MPs at a meeting of the European Research Group (ERG) on Tuesday night, told the prime minister that tinkering around the edges of the protocol would not amount to a fresh start for Northern Ireland on Brexit.
Donaldson said: “Will he agree with me that it is unacceptable that EU laws are imposed on Northern Ireland with no democratic scrutiny or consent? Will he assure me that he will address these fundamental constitutional issues and do so not just by tweaking the protocol, but by rewriting the legally binding treaty text?”
Earlier, Sunak came under pressure to confirm he would give MPs a vote on any deal, a move that risks a rerun of the Brexit battles endured by Theresa May on the original withdrawal agreement contains the legally binding chapter on Northern Ireland opposed by the DUP and the ERG.
“Of course parliament will express a view,” he told Keir Starmer, when asked by the Labour leader about a vote. Starmer said he would take that as a confirmation of a parliamentary ballot.
Later, Sunak’s press secretary clarified that the prospect of a Commons vote was “hypothetical” since no deal on the Northern Ireland protocol had yet been struck.
Sunak told Starmer he was “jumping the gun” in demanding answers on a deal, telling MPs he was “still in intensive discussions with the EU”.
