Rishi Sunak promises 'beginning of a new chapter' as he unveils 'Windsor Framework' deal on Brexit

 

Rishi Sunak promises 'beginning of a new chapter' as he unveils 'Windsor Framework' deal on Brexit

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has outlined details of the "new Windsor Framework" agreed with the European Union to overcome trade barriers in Northern Ireland following Brexit.

The prime minister said the agreement was a "historic" and a "decisive breakthrough" that "delivers smooth-flowing trade within the whole of the United Kingdom, protects Northern Ireland's place in our union and safeguards sovereignty for the people of Northern Ireland".

The new deal includes:

• Green and red lane trade routes - where goods staying in the UK will use a green lane to avoid customs bureaucracy, while goods moving to the EU will use a red lane

• UK VAT and excise changes will apply in Northern Ireland - British products such as food and drink, trees, plants and seed potatoes will be available in Northern Ireland and pet travel requirements have been removed

• A "landmark" settlement on medicines so drugs approved for use by the UK's medicines regulator will be automatically available in every pharmacy and hospital in Northern Ireland

• A new "Stormont brake" - to safeguard sovereignty in Northern Ireland. Stormont can stop changes in EU goods laws from applying in Northern Ireland. If the brake is pulled, the UK government will have a veto that will apply permanently

Follow live updates on new post-Brexit deal

For weeks, there has been speculation over whether a new deal could be thrashed out three years after Brexit took place as Mr Sunak entered talks with the EU.

But terms of the deal were revealed at a news conference following final talks between Mr Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor this lunchtime.

Mr Sunak said the agreement "marks a turning point for the people of Northern Ireland" that "fixes the practical problems they face" yet "preserves the balance of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement".

On the changes to customs and VAT rules, Mr Sunak said: "This means we have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea."

Ms von der Leyen said the 27-page, 13,031-word framework "will allow us to begin a new chapter" and it "provides for long-lasting solutions that both of us are confident will work for all people and businesses in Northern Ireland".

The two leaders were glowing in their respect for each other, with Ms von der Leyen calling the PM "dear Rishi" a few times and said they were "honest with each other about the difficulties in our bilateral relationship and it was vital to put that on the right footing".

Mr Sunak said: "The United Kingdom and European Union may have had our differences in the past, but we are allies, trading partners and friends.

"Something that we've seen clearly the past year as we joined with others to support Ukraine. This is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship."

Next hurdle: Tory Brexiteers and DUP

Mr Sunak put the deal - the biggest move of his premiership - to his cabinet on Monday afternoon during a virtual meeting but a vote by MPs in the Commons is not expected until possibly next week.

Following speculation there may not be a vote on the deal by MPs, Mr Sunak confirmed parliament will have a vote "at the appropriate time".

On whether Tory Brexiteers and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - who has refused to form an executive in Stormont in protest of the former protocol - may try to block the deal, Mr Sunak said it is "not about politicians" and is about "what's best" for the people of Northern Ireland.

Earlier in the day, Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg warned Mr Sunak of a possible Tory revolt if the DUP did not support the deal.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said in a statement that the agreement showed "significant progress has been secured across a number of areas", but there remained "key issues of concern", adding: "There can be no disguising the fact that in some sectors of our economy EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland."

He said his party would "study the detail" of the framework and "where necessary we stand ready to engage with the government in order to seek further clarification, re-working or change as required".

However, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill said there should now be no more delays to the restoration of the Stormont institutions.

"I was always very clear that the protections that were secured within the protocol were very necessary, they remain necessary," she told Sky News.

"Protecting those things that were working and smoothing out the things that needed to be fixed, that is the position we are standing in this evening.

"All different parties need to sit down at the executive table taking the decisions which impact on people's lives, that is where we should be."

Ireland's prime minister Leo Varadkar backed the deal, saying it provided "workable and durable" solutions.

He added: "The agreement also paves the way for new and more positive relations between the UK and the EU and between the UK and Ireland.

"This is a time of great trouble in the world. We need to be partners and friends. There is so much more that unites us than divides us."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also supported the deal, saying: "We will not snipe. We will not seek to play political games. And when the prime minister puts this deal forward for a vote, Labour will vote for it.

"The protocol will never be perfect. It is a compromise. But I have always been clear that, if implemented correctly, it is an arrangement that can work in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.

"And that now it's been agreed, we all have an obligation to make it work."

Read more:
What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?
What are the DUP's seven tests?

Mr Sunak will meet the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs on Tuesday evening to try to persuade them to back the deal.

But first he made a statement on the deal to MPs in the House of Commons.

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There has been early support from Brexiteer and Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker, who told Sky News the framework "restores Northern Ireland's place in the union".

He added: "I think this is a win and I think it's very important in politics to know when you've had a win-win solution for all sides - bank it and move forwards... this is a time to bank what is a radical improvement for the people of Northern Ireland."

And a statement from this afternoon's cabinet meeting readout showed further Brexit faithfuls giving their backing, with the deputy PM Dominic Raab saying the framework was "a remarkable accomplishment which would be a success story for the region" and home secretary Suella Braverman praising the Stormont brake.

Why was a new deal needed?

The deal follows frustrations around the Northern Ireland Protocol, which aimed to prevent creating a hard border on the island of Ireland - but effectively placed a border in the Irish Sea.

This was something former prime minister Boris Johnson promised would not happen when he signed off on the original deal with the EU.

The DUP has refused to form an executive at Stormont until the protocol is ditched, meaning the Assembly has not been functioning for months.

Some businesses have ceased trading due to the extra cost and bureaucracy created by goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK having to be checked over concerns they could end up going into the EU over the border in Ireland.

Mr Johnson introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to override that part of the Brexit deal but this caused tension with the EU, who said the move risked breaching an international treaty.

The ex-prime minister told Sky News last week that continuing with the bill was the "best way forward".

But the bill's passage through parliament was paused by Mr Sunak and will now be dropped, in return for the EU dropping legal proceedings against the UK.

Ms Von der Leyen headed off to meet King Charles for tea at Windsor Castle after she and the PM announced the deal.

Greece has reinforced border controls along its land and sea frontier with Turkey amid expectations of a new wave of arrivals by people displaced in the earthquakes that have devastated south-east Turkey and northern Syria.

Hundreds of extra border guards began patrolling the Greek-Turkish land frontier in the Evros region at the weekend as contingency measures were stepped up to stave off the expected flows.

“The mass movement of millions of people is not a solution,” said Greece’s migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, emphasising the need for emergency aid to be sent to Turkey and Syria “before this happens”.

It is anticipated that some of the people made homeless by the 6 February earthquakes – a disaster that has left more than 50,000 dead – will start heading towards Europe in the spring if humanitarian assistance does not arrive.

The patrols were dispatched as Mitarachi called for the enhanced protection of the continent’s frontiers with increased surveillance infrastructure and additional fences.

At a European conference on border management held outside Athens on Friday, he vowed that the enlargement of a controversial wall along the land border would go ahead irrespective of whether it is financed by the EU. The 22 mile-long, 5 metre-high barrier is due to double in size by the end of the year.

“The fence will be extended along the entire length of the [Evros] river so that we can protect the European continent from illegal flows,” he said.

Indicative of the bloc’s hardening stance towards refugees, the centre-right government has said it will also procure scores of new coastguard vessels to patrol Aegean Sea islands facing the Turkish coast.

The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose four-year term ends in July, has been noticeably tougher on the issue of migration than his leftist predecessor, Alexis Tsipras. The government’s approach, which has reportedly included forcible evictions or pushbacks of refugees in border areas, has engendered widespread criticism, not least from the EU. Rejecting the allegations, the administration has described its policies as “strict but fair”.

With the EU border agency, Frontex, also fortifying patrols in the Aegean, ever greater numbers of refugees are risking life and limb by circumventing the Greek isles to travel in vastly overcrowded boats from Turkey to Italy.

The 59 refugees, including a newborn baby, found dead on Sunday after their vessel ran aground in rough seas off Calabria had started their journey from the Turkish coast.

Brussels has allocated more money to Greece to handle migration than to any other EU member state, citing its frontline role. Hugely expensive “closed controlled” holding facilities have replaced squalid camps on Samos, Leros and Kos, and similar centres for asylum seekers are expected to open in Lesbos and Chios this year. The installations have been likened by human rights groups to prisons.

Calls for tougher action have increased since the migration crisis of 2015 when nearly 1 million Syrians fleeing civil war were granted asylum in Europe.

Ministers representing the 15 member states attending last week’s conference in Athens called not only for agreements to be struck with third-party countries to accept refugees but for further financial support “for all types of border protection infrastructure”.

“It is at this point crucial for Europe to decide what type of migration policy we want, and more specifically what type of border management we want,” Mitarachi told his counterparts, before making passing reference to NGOs allegedly “assisting” border crossings.

“Clearly we need to offer asylum to people in need of protection but in an orderly way … Today, unfortunately, instead of us being proactive in asylum management, it is people-smugglers who sell places in our societies – not to those most in need but to those who pay the fees.”