Good morning. It took 726 days, and a fraught five hour meeting that ended at one o’clock this morning – but at last, it looks like power-sharing is back on in Northern Ireland.
At a press conference after a meeting at a remote venue in County Down a few hours ago, Democratic Unionist party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that his party would finally end its boycott of the Stormont assembly. He told journalists: “The result was clear, the DUP has been decisive, I have been mandated to move forward.” That means that the Northern Ireland executive is likely to return before an 8 February deadline for forming an administration. Barring any drama in the next week, Sinn Féin will hold the symbolic first minister position for the first time – and something like normal business will resume.
Today’s newsletter runs you through how we got here – and why last night’s chaotic discussions appear to have finally got the DUP over the line. Here are the headlines.
Five big stories
Middle East | Joe Biden’s defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, has vowed the US will take “all necessary actions” to defend its troops after Iran-backed militants killed three and wounded dozens more in a drone attack in Jordan. Qatar’s prime minister said on Monday he hoped any US retaliation would not undercut progress toward a new Israel-Hamas hostage release deal in weekend talks.
Local government | Households across England are facing an inflation-busting £2bn council tax raid this spring despite Rishi Sunak’s promise of pre-election giveaways. After an announcement last week of an extra £600m in local government funding in England, council bosses have been told that the government expects the maximum 4.99% increase in council tax – about £100 extra on a typical band D bill. Read an analysis of the state of council budgets.
Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch is a member of a Conservative WhatsApp group called “Evil Plotters” despite telling party rebels to get behind Rishi Sunak, the Guardian can reveal. The business secretary has criticised party colleagues for “stirring” up suggestions that she could replace the prime minister – but is part of a group rallying round her longer-term ambitions.
Health | Alzheimer’s can be spread from human to human through rare medical accidents, research suggests, although experts stress there is no evidence the disease can be passed between people through everyday activities or routine care.
UK news | The actor and rightwing activist Laurence Fox has lost a high court libel battle with two men he baselessly called paedophiles after they said he was a racist. A judge dismissed Fox’s own claim that the allegations of racism were defamatory and said that damages would be discussed at a later date.
In depth: How the DUP deal was done
It has been almost two years since the DUP, the leading unionist party in Northern Ireland, collapsed the power-sharing agreement at Stormont in protest at the Northern Ireland protocol – the deal governing post-Brexit trade in the region. When we covered the crisis in First Edition in October 2022, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll told us: “It’s been one crisis after another. The assembly hasn’t functioned for four of the last six years.” You can now make that six of the last eight.
But very early this morning, and after months of tortuous negotiations between the UK government and the DUP, that finally changed. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that the deal offered by secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris had been endorsed by a “decisive” vote among his 120-member party executive, and that he was confident that Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market would be ensured.
Here’s a reminder of the path to this point, and what the decision will mean for Northern Ireland.
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Why was the DUP boycotting Stormont?
As a way to exert leverage over the government in its campaign to force changes to the post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland. The DUP collapsed the Stormont executive in February 2022 in protest at checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, arguing that the set-up diminishes the region’s place in the UK internal market and ultimately undermines its position as part of the UK.
Then Sinn Féin won regional elections in May of the same year, giving it the symbolic first minister position for the first time, and the DUP began a full boycott of the assembly. Some of the DUP’s critics believe that the prospect of Republican leadership at Stormont was an additional motivating factor for the party’s refusal to change its stance. The DUP’s decision has been popular with its own supporters, which has made ending the boycott more complicated.
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What has that meant for Northern Ireland?
Although the DUP represents just a quarter of Northern Ireland’s voters, its boycott has meant that Stormont has not been able to operate at all under the terms set out by the Good Friday agreement. That has meant civil servants in Belfast running the region according to tight budgets set in London.
Officials have felt constrained by their lack of a democratic mandate and have been unable to make vital decisions on changes to public spending – leading to the biggest day of strike action in the country’s history on 18 January. Money has been promised by Westminster to resolve public sector pay disputes, but will not be released until the Assembly returns.
Meanwhile, important legislation such as Dáithí’s Law - which would introduce an opt-out organ donation system - has also been held up. Rory Carroll summarised the situation in his report this morning as “a form of auto-pilot amid a fiscal crisis, crumbling public services, strikes and doubts about whether devolved government would ever return”.
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What’s changed?
In December, Heaton-Harris offered a £2.5bn financial package to settle the pay claims and fund public services, but said that it was conditional on the DUP returning to Stormont. The package also included a stabilising fund to give a new executive a fiscal cushion for four years, additional powers for the executive to spend money, and an extension on a payback period for previous overspends to five years.
Meanwhile, talks between the DUP and the UK government over the Northern Ireland protocol have been going on for at least seven months. Last night, Donaldson said that legislation agreed with Westminster would “remove checks on goods moving within the UK and remaining in NI, and end NI blindly following EU laws”. And he said that unfettered access to the rest of the UK for Northern Ireland business would be guaranteed subject to new legislation being passed in parliament.
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What happened at Monday night’s talks?
Even those attending the talks were not supposed to know where they were until a few hours before they began – but by the time DUP politicians arrived at the Larchfield Estate, a wedding and corporate events venue outside Belfast, dozens of hardline protesters were assembled outside to greet them. They sang loyalist songs, held union jack flags, and held signs saying “Stop DUP sellout”.
Meanwhile, the Traditional Unionist Voice party – a hardline rival to the DUP – denounced Donaldson and the deal, calling it a “betrayal”. A prominent loyalist, Jamie Bryson, appeared to have sources inside the room, and live-tweeted the meeting. He claimed this morning that he had been told that “DUP executive members … were ‘bounced’ into a vote based not on having seen the legal text of any deal, but rather solely on the spin via a glossy power-point by those who negotiated it”.
Bryson also claimed that prominent DUP members including Nigel Dodds, the former deputy leader, spoke out against a deal. Donaldson claimed that his account was “a misrepresentation of what was said and what was happening”. But he declined to provide the numbers supporting the deal.
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What happens next?
There is an 8 February legislative deadline for forming an administration at Stormont. Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, expressed optimism that that could now be met, and said that “Sinn Féin will now engage with the parties and both governments to ensure we now all press on without delay”.
The deal underpinning the DUP’s decision is yet to be published and will be examined by Conservative MPs for any sign that it weakens the UK’s ability to diverge from EU rules. But it is expected to be passed in Westminster. Meanwhile, there may be more expressions of opposition from unionist hardliners in the days ahead – and there is at least some risk of a party split within the DUP if those concerns cannot be allayed.
Nonetheless, Heaton-Harris expressed optimism that the Assembly will soon return, and get Stormont back to the business of governing. “The parties entitled to form an Executive are meeting tomorrow to discuss these matters,” Heaton-Harris said. “I hope to be able to finalise this deal with the political parties as soon as possible.”
What else we’ve been reading
Jonathan Guyer went to a bustling Palestinian restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. Despite receiving hate for months because of the owners support for the Palestinian cause, more than 1,300 people lined up around the block for a Jewish Sabbath meal hosted by Ayat. People danced, ate and came together: “I know what our communities are capable of, and our long history of organising, and eating together,” she told him. “This, for me, is the Brooklyn I grew up in.” Nimo
If you’re as lazy and bread-oriented as me, you’ll appreciate this list of 20 excellent things to put on toast. Vegan taramasalata sounds a bit complex, mind you. Archie
As part of a phone detox, Rhik Samadder goes to a cabin in the woods and locks his mobile away in a box. Initially, it works: he feels calmer, more relaxed and sleeps more deeply. But returning to his regular life throws some curveballs that make his abstinence too difficult to maintain. Nimo
Humans generally grasp that complex systems can be massively altered by random events - but we’re much less good at acknowledging the same reality in our own lives. Brian Klaas’ piece about social science and chaos theory is unnerving, but oddly comforting: “You are the contingent culmination of the entirety of cosmic history”. Archie
ICYMI: George Monbiot takes a look at how America’s obsession with “extrinsic values“ like status, power and wealth have created the perfect landscape for the continued rise of Donald Trump. Nimo
Sport
Football | Sammie Szmodics’s 20th and 21st goals of the season made him the star turn of Blackburn’s 4-1 knockout win against the EFL’s glamour club Wrexham, setting up a fifth-round visit from Newcastle.
Football | A week after a 4-0 battering from Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast beat Senegal 5-4 on penalties in the Africa Cup of Nations to set up a quarter final against Mali or Burkina Faso. Frank Kessié’s late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw in regulation time for Ivory Coast after Habibou Diallo’s fourth-minute opener.
Figure skating | The Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, whose positive doping test as a 15-year-old dominated headlines at the 2022 Winter Olympics, has been banned for four years by the court of arbitration for sport.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “Dismay as households face £2bn council tax increase”. The Daily Telegraph splashes on “Farmers lay siege to Paris with vow to cut off food”. “New fast-track NHS test will save lives” – that’s the Daily Express while the top story in the Times is “Dissidents in Britain warned of Iran threat”. “Rishi goes to war over rail strikes” is on page one of the Daily Mail. “Cameron to warn that UK facing biggest threat since the Cold War” says the i. “Royals on road to recovery” – that’s the Metro, after the “king and Kate” left hospital. Of that, “Home to recover” says the Daily Mirror. Lastly for today, the Financial Times: “Flutter lines up New York listing in fresh blow to London equity market”.
Today in Focus
Will the ICJ ruling change anything in Gaza?
The ICJ’s interim ruling – which said aid must be allowed into Gaza – was quickly followed by shocking allegations from Israel that employees of one of the biggest aid agencies in the territory were involved in the 7 October attacks. What does this mean for people in Gaza? Patrick Wintour reports
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
In 2015, at the age of 71, Victoria Zaragoza-Martinez took her first tango lesson and has been going regularly for the last nine years. During her retirement she felt restless, the long British winters were getting to her and she knew she had to try something new.
Dance quickly became a huge part of her life: in her classes, Zaragoza-Martinez found a new group of friends, built up her confidence and has travelled as far as Argentina- the birthplace of tango – to dance with the locals until 3am. “I don’t feel almost 80 when I dance,” she says. “It’s my life’s passion.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
