LAST UPDATE | 1 Mar 2023
DUP CHIEF WHIP Sammy Wilson has said his party will only sign up to the Windsor framework if it “safeguards the union” and Northern Ireland’s economy.
Sinn Féin, meanwhile, has said it is “satisfied that the agreement struck does essential things” and has said power sharing in Stormont must be restored urgently.
Wilson, the MP for East Antrim, sharply criticised the “Stormont brake” today, saying it “is not really a brake at all.”
The Stormont brake is an emergency mechanism which will allow the Northern Ireland Assembly to stop new EU single market rules “that would have significant and lasting effects on everyday lives in Northern Ireland”.
“It’s a delaying mechanism,” he told Times Radio.
The brake requires the signatures of 30 MLAs, from at least two parties – there are 90 MLAs in total – to ask the UK government to apply an emergency brake that would block or delay a new EU law from taking effect in Northern Ireland.
However, these signatures could come from two unionist parties, and would not require cross-community support.
Today’s agreement does what many said could not be done.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 27, 2023
Now is the time to move forward as one country - one United Kingdom 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/6rnyRhVMIS
“If it’s not, then we’ll reject it. If we come to the conclusion … it does, we’ll accept it.”
Wilson joins his DUP colleague Ian Paisley in vocally criticising the pact, whereas party leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who won the leadership against the backdrop of division within the DUP, has withheld judgement while consulting colleagues to try and reach a “collective decision”.
Speaking at a press conference in Stormont today, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said: “We warmly welcome the fact that the negotiations between the British Government and the European Commission have now concluded and that there is a deal on the table.
We’re satisfied that the agreement struck does essential things. It ensures there will be no hardening of the border on our island.
“It think a great tribute should be paid to the people and to the electorate who have been incredibly patient and I think at times incredibly frustrated with the entire political process. We need government and we need it now.”
The party’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill said with the end of the protocol negotiations the onus is now on Assembly members to get around the table and form a new executive.
“There are people out there who are on waiting lists, our public sector workers who are out on picket lines. They need us to be in the Executive and that’s where we stand ready to be, where our team stands ready to be.
“I rarely find myself agreeing with the British Prime Minister, but I do think that the opportunity we now have – of access to both markets – has to be grabbed on to with both hands, and there is no time to waste.
“The economic potential for us here is enormous and this is a moment not to be missed.”
DUP MLA Gordon Lyons said O’Neill should apologise for having previously called for the EU to “rigorously implement” the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“The only reason Sinn Fein or any other party in Northern Ireland is offering views on the Windsor Framework is because of the determination and action of the Democratic Unionist Party,” he said.
“It is notable that all of those who have been quick to welcome the framework without significant scrutiny are the same parties who told us that the protocol could never be reopened and that the European Union would never agree to fresh negotiations.
“Sinn Fein are welcoming ‘economic opportunities’ presented by these proposals whilst ignoring their determination to rigorously implement the economic harm of the protocol.”
Sunak has told Tory MPs he was “confident” the DUP would back his deal as he acknowledged a “spectrum of views” within the unionist party.
He was understood to have told Conservative colleagues he had “spent a lot of time” with Donaldson.
“So let’s not pressure them for an instant answer,” he added. “Let’s also remember that the last thing the public want is another Westminster drama.”
It was being argued that any resistance to the deal will not result in changes to the framework as reopening an agreement which took months to negotiate is not seen as a workable solution.
With opposition parties offering support, there is little chance of it failing to receive support in Parliament when put to a vote, so the DUP will not be effectively handed a veto over the process.
Richard Graham, a member of the executive of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, said it would be “very sad” if the DUP rejected the agreement.
He told Sky News: “I think there is a strong feeling that this does make a difference for so many people in Northern Ireland and I think it’s going to be difficult for the DUP to strongly object to this, though they will probably say that it’s not perfect.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tonight told Fine Gael parliamentary party colleagues that the Windsor Framework presents Ireland with an opportunity to re-establish very good relations and a new partnership with the UK.
The Fine Gael leader said he wanted to see the relationship between the two countries brought back to where it was when Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2011
Regarding the EU-UK agreement, Varadkar said Irish priorities as set out by Enda Kenny seven years ago (avoiding a hard border, free movement of goods & people, the Good Friday Agreement protected and our place in the European single market secured) were never in question.
He also said he also hopes to see the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running.
Sunak has also been challenged to replicate Northern Ireland’s “special” EU single market access for other home nations.
The SNP asked the Prime Minister to explain why Scotland is being denied the same “attractive” arrangement given to Northern Ireland as part of the latest Brexit deal.
Sunak yesterday said the Windsor Framework, which seeks to remove post-Brexit trade barriers, would create “the world’s most exciting economic zone”.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry noted he had “boasted” the deal puts Northern Ireland in an “unbelievably special position” given its access to the UK and EU markets.
She added in the House of Commons: “So my question for the Prime Minister is this: If there can be a very, very special status for the province of Northern Ireland, why can’t there be a very, very special status for the nation of Scotland?”
Sunak replied: “There is a very special status for the nation of Scotland and that’s inside our United Kingdom.”
He later said: “The important thing to note is to avoid a land border on the island of Ireland between north and south. That is what is crucial to achieve in getting the right framework for the arrangements in Northern Ireland.
“And the businesses there that trade across that border on a daily basis with complex supply chains need and value that access. That is something that the Windsor framework has sought to achieve and I believe delivers it.
“It’s not about the macro issue of membership of the European Union, it’s about getting the right mechanisms in place to support businesses and communities in Northern Ireland. He knows better than that.”
Additional reporting by Christina Finn and Press Association
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