UK and EU ‘strike deal on post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland’

Rishi Sunak scrambled to soothe DUP and Tory MP nerves over Northern Ireland protocol concessions today as No10 played down hopes a deal is nearly done.

The UK and EU are said to be ‘inching’ towards a settlement that could end years of wrangling over post-Brexit rules.

Brussels is believed to have agreed a package that includes scrapping routine checks on products destined for the province.

The bloc also appears to have accepted that the European Court of Justice would only be able to intervene if the domestic courts refer issues.

However, Downing Street said there were still ‘significant gaps’ and it is far from clear that the terms will be acceptable to unionists in Northern Ireland, or Tory Brexiteers. 

Mr Sunak was challenged to guarantee there will be no erosion of ‘sovereignty’ by former Northern Ireland secretary Shailesh Vara at PMQs this afternoon.

He replied that he could offer that assurance. ‘The implementation of the protocol is having an impact on the communities in Northern Ireland. That is why it needs to be addressed and that is what we are trying to do through constructive dialogue,’ the premier said.

‘But the goal in that must be to ensure Northern Ireland’s place in our precious union.’

Goods vehicles are checked as they arrive at the port of Larne harbour last month

The EU’s Maros Sefcovic (left) has been leading talks, but the DUP (leader Jeffrey Donaldson pictured right) has set a series of tests for approving any deal

Rishi Sunak scrambled to soothe DUP and Tory MP nerves over Northern Ireland protocol concessions today as No10 played down hopes a deal is nearly done

Both sides are anxious about the potential for any deal to unravel, with the PM desperate to provoking a fresh civil war in his party.

Former Brexit Secretary Lord Frost fired a warning shot saying the UK had undermined its own leverage by failing to follow through the mooted law unilaterally scrapping the protocol.   

Ex-Cabinet minister John Redwood said that while getting rid of EU checks is important the ‘bigger issue that stops agreement is their wish to control the laws and taxes in Northern Ireland’. 

One senior Tory Brexiteer told MailOnline there was a lot of ‘shadow boxing’ going on. ‘I think they are now inching towards a deal – but if it doesn’t address EU law, the DUP are very unlikely to back it.’ 

Powersharing in Northern Ireland has collapsed amid the tussle over the post-Brexit rules, with the DUP refusing to participate at Stormont.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has extended the deadline for holding elections in the province, raising hopes that a deal is getting close.   

The sides are keen to finalise an agreement in time for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April. 

But the PM’s spokesman said there was ‘lots of work to do’ in all areas of the talks around the Northern Ireland Protocol.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said there were ‘constructive’ talks with the UK but ‘everything is only negotiated at the very end’.

Negotiating teams are continuing to hammer out specific details of a veterinary checks deal, according to The Times, and an announcement does not seem imminent..

Three years after Britain formally left the EU, both sides have been discussing how to implement post-Brexit arrangements on the open border between Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland.

Part of the solution will see red and green lanes for goods coming from mainland Britain.

Products concluding their journey in Northern Ireland will be filled through without routine checks, while those destined for the Republic will undergo a customs process. 

The EU is said to have made a key concession on the role of the European Courts of Justice.

A source told The Times: ‘This is a critical issue of sovereignty and that will remain with the UK.’

Another said: ‘The EU has moved a lot from its original position. This deal won’t delight anyone but the hope is it satisfies everyone enough.’

A senior British government source said the parameters of an overall deal were in place and it was up to Mr Sunak to decide whether to sign it off.

They said: ‘The mood music has completely changed in that both sides have been looking to go as far as they can to compromise to make this work, That hasn’t been the old point scoring seen in the past.’

Writing in the Policy Exchange report, Lord Frost insisted: ‘It is not clear precisely what objectives UK negotiators are pursuing …. certainly the UK has entered negotiations with a weaker hand than it needed to because of the effective abandonment of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill in the Lords and the dropping of any prospect of using Article 16 of the Protocol to safeguard the situation. 

‘The Government is therefore much more dependent than it needed to be on the EU’s good will and good sense on Northern Ireland — commodities which have been in short supply in recent years.

‘If there is to be an outcome which can re-establish stability, the EU has to recognise that its own interests necessitate fundamental change… 

‘If EU negotiators can see clearly that the crucial need is to put in place arrangements which support the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, and that their own mandate is entirely consistent with that, indeed requires it, then it is still possible that a way out may be found.’

Rishi Sunak is facing a scramble to win over the DUP and Tory MPs today amid claims a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol is all-but done