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Sunak sets out Northern Ireland trade deal to MPs as Labour vow to back agreement – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen say ‘Windsor framework’ has been reached after four months of negotiations. This blog is now closed

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Mon 27 Feb 2023 16.25 ESTFirst published on Mon 27 Feb 2023 04.31 EST
Key events
Rishi Sunak renounces Northern Ireland protocol in praise of new agreement with EU – video

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Sunak says 'Windsor framework' will mark start of 'new chapter' in UK-EU relations

Sunak says he and Von der Leyen have changed the protocol, and are now announing the “Windsor framework”.

He says the UK and the EU have had their differences, but they are friends. This is the beginning of a “new chapter”.

UPDATE: Sunak said:

I’m pleased to report that we have now made a decisive breakthrough.

Together we have changed the original protocol and are today announcing the new Windsor framework.

Today’s agreement delivers smooth-flowing trade within the whole United Kingdom, protects Northern Ireland’s place in our union and safeguards sovereignty for the people of Northern Ireland.

Rishi Sunak at the Windsor news conference.
Rishi Sunak at the Windsor news conference. Photograph: Sky News
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Key events

A summary of today's developments

  • Rishi Sunak has given a statement in the House of Commons after unveiling a deal with the EU on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. He said the deal “permanently removes any sense of a border in the Irish Sea”.

  • The PM said the agreement delivers the smooth flow of trade within the the UK, protects Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and that the legal text of the protocol has been amended to ensure critical VAT and excise changes for the whole of the UK can be made and “safeguards sovereignty for the people of Ireland”.

  • Sir Keir Starmer says Labour will back the deal which he says will improve the UK’s international standing.

  • Boris Johnson is believed to still be considering the new deal on the protocol negotiated by Rishi Sunak. A source close to the former prime minister told PA he is continuing to study and reflect on the government’s proposals.

  • Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says the party will now study the deal but welcomes the spirit of “partnership and compromise”.

  • The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) withheld judgment on the deal to end the dispute over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed “significant progress” in the UK-EU deal but cautioned that concerns remained and said the party would take time to analyse the text.

  • DUP MP Ian Paisley told Newsnight that the deal “does not cut the mustard”.

  • Former prime minister Theresa May called on her colleagues to support the Windsor framework in the vote.

  • Downing Street declined to confirm whether MPs will get a straight yes or no vote on Rishi Sunak’s Windsor framework. The prime minister’s spokesperson said “there will be a vote”, but did not give details on timing or in what form. Pressed on timing, he said: “Our intent is to allow parties and parliamentarians to have the proper time to consider this before bringing forward a vote.”

That’s it from us tonight – thank you everyone for following along with this extended Politics Live liveblog. Here’s our full story:

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Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis said in the Commons: “It sounds as if the reserve plan here is the Stormont brake, but … that might not apply if for any reason Stormont was not sitting.

“So is the prime minister satisfied that there is a plan B that would work under all circumstances?”

Sunak replies: “This is incredibly important, because what we should be focused on is Stormont being up and running.”

He added: “It’s entirely right that we have vested this power, this sovereignty, in the institution that represents them, and not exercise it on their behalf.

“But instead our priority should be getting the institutions back up and running so that sovereignty is restored and the people of Northern Ireland are in control of their destiny.”

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DUP MP Gregory Campbell tells the PM: “Does he agree with me… that just as years ago the representatives of nationalism in Northern Ireland needed to be content with governance arrangements in Northern Ireland, then equally now the representatives of unionism have to be content with governance arrangements going forward?”

Sunak said he believes the framework would deliver on their objectives and on the issue of the role of the European Court of Justice, he said: “Ultimately it is for the people of Northern Ireland to decide.”

Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh told the PM: “I can assure him, many of his colleagues on these benches are watching the DUP very carefully, and we will go where they go.”

Sir Edward added: “It all depends on our colleagues in the DUP. Because unless this exercise gets Stormont up and running, it’s pretty futile, indeed it might be downright dangerous.”

Sunak responded: “This is also about the people of Northern Ireland. It’s about the communities in Northern Ireland, the businesses in Northern Ireland, and whatever happens with the politics, those people will benefit from this agreement … and this framework ensures that we have resolved their concern and the challenges that they face, and they must be uppermost in our mind.”

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During the Commons debate there have been a lot of tributes paid to Betty Boothroyd, the first female speaker of the House of Commons, who died aged 93.

'I love parliament': the life of Britain's first female speaker, Betty Boothroyd – video obituary
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Former home secretary Sajid Javid earlier urged Sunak to use the agreement to “form the basis of further cooperation with our EU friends on issues that will matter to the entire United Kingdom, including for example trade and investment, science cooperation, and illegal migration”.

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Although the PM has been praised by a lot of MPs across the political spectrum over the deal there is some scepticism from the DUP benches.

DUP MP Gavin Robinson said: “Does he [the PM] recognise that having had so many false dawns and failed starts over the last four or five years of political commitments, that ratification will need to occur before we can take any final decisions?”

Sunak says he will give the DUP the time it needs to consider the agreement and will answer any questions.

“I acknowledge the frustrations that they feel about what has gone before but I hope today means we can start a new chapter,” he added.

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DUP MP Jim Shannon believes the PM will not get support for his deal from unionists if it fails to pass their tests for removing the influence of Europe’s highest court over Northern Ireland.

He told the Commons: “You are my Prime Minister so I say this with great respect: This is about more than just solar panels and sausages. It is crucial that the Windsor Framework which you have referred to does not become the ‘Windsor knot’ for us unionists in Northern Ireland.

“Does the PM understand that any deal which does not include the cessation of the European Court of Justice’s interference in the UK sovereignty – in other words the real power must lie with Westminster, not with Brussels.”

He added: “The Prime Minister can strike no deal ever without bringing the majority of unionists on board and to push another deal through this House without unionist buy-in will offer no result other than another failed deal.”

Sunak replied: “I look forward to engaging with him and his colleagues as they study the detail so that we can hopefully move forward together, but I am confident that this is a good basis and a good agreement for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill has tweeted: “I welcome negotiations between London & Brussels have concluded & a deal has been struck.

“The economic possibilities this opens up must be seized to better people’s lives.

“The onus is on the DUP to end its boycott of the executive, & join with the rest of us to make politics work.”

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Sunak reiterates that the European Court of Justice will continue to have the final say on EU single market issues.

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Jennifer Rankin
Jennifer Rankin

European leaders have voiced hopes of turning a page with the British government, following a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol intended to end the poisonous disputes of the Brexit years.

“This new framework will allow us to begin a new chapter,” the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said at her joint press conference with Rishi Sunak. “It provides for long-lasting solutions that both of us are confident will work for all people and businesses in Northern Ireland.”

Ireland’s foreign minister, Michéal Martin, said he shared the hope “that today’s announcement allows the EU and the UK to open a new chapter in their relationship”, describing the two allies as “natural partners in addressing the global challenges we face, whether supporting Ukraine or addressing climate change”.

EU diplomats gave a cautious response to the Windsor framework, the 26-page document that will sit alongside the legally binding Northern Ireland protocol, which remains in place. To avoid leaks the EU’s most senior diplomats and MEPs were only briefed on the contents of the agreement on Monday, after Von der Leyen and Sunak revealed some details to the world.

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Sunak said it will be for “us”, the UK government, to decide whether the threshold for the Stormont brake has been met.

Meanwhile, Sir John Redwood asked Sunak “who will decide which EU laws would apply in Northern Ireland and on what basis will they make that decision”.

The PM replied “when the executive is up and running, as I hope very much that it will, it will be for the Assembly in Northern Ireland to decide”.

Ian Paisley, of the DUP, has been asking the PM about the impact the deal will have on the agriculture and farming sector.

He points to what he sees as a potential issue over the arrangement for veterinary medicines and asks whether it will be fixed or whether it is a “failed process already”.

Paisley said the veterinary agreement is “useless” for Northern Ireland because it is provisional and will expire in 12 months.

Sunak says the agreement on veterinary medicine lasts until 2025, which will give both sides time to come to a more permanent agreement.

Sunak would not be drawn on when parliament would have a say on the agreement when asked in the commons.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare, chairman of the Northern Ireland affairs committee, said: “Whilst respecting entirely and agreeing … that parties, particularly those in Northern Ireland, need the time and space to study the detail and to work out all of the implications for those in Northern Ireland, Northern Irish business wants and the good people of Northern Ireland most certainly deserve quick certainty.

“So if there are to be votes in this place on any element of the Windsor framework as announced today, can my right honourable friend commit to ensuring that those votes take place speedily in order to ensure that certainty and peace of mind?”

Sunak said: “Parliament will of course have its say and there will be a vote. But we will need to do that at the appropriate time as we give people the time and space to consider the detail.”

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Sammy Wilson, of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party, told the Commons he did not have full confidence in the agreement.

He said hundreds of thousands of pages of EU law remained in Northern Ireland, border posts are still being planned to be built and future EU laws will apply to Northern Ireland, bar the Stormont brake.

“Can he [the PM] understand why we don’t have confidence in that and why we still fear that our position in the UK is not going to be restored by this agreement?”

Sunak says border posts only exist for checks in the red lane.

He said a functioning green lane depends on the enforcement of a red lane and that less than 3% of EU law applies in Northern Ireland, which will be subject to a consent vote next year.

“There is a balance to be struck,” Sunak repeats.

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