Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson called for changes to parts of the deal between the UK and the European Union on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for a resumption of power-sharing in the region.
(Bloomberg) — Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson called for changes to parts of the deal between the UK and the European Union on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for a resumption of power-sharing in the region.
In his first detailed response to the deal announced in February by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Donaldson said the Windsor Framework made “significant progress” on perceived problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has governed the region’s trade rules since the UK left the EU.
However, Donaldson said: “It is my current assessment that there remains key areas of concern which require further clarification, re-working and change as well as seeing further legal text.”
The DUP’s position is significant as the UK hopes that if the unionist party supports the deal it will agree to restore power-sharing at Northern Ireland’s Stormont assembly.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called for the DUP to accept the deal.
“I really hope that the DUP and other politicians in Northern Ireland recognize that we have focused very much on their concerns,” Cleverly said. “And I really hope that they’ll be able to give it their full-throated support.”
@lizzzburden he hopes the DUP will give the Windsor Framework “full-throated support”The UK had a “very close eye” on concerns of unionists when negotiating the deal, he says https://t.co/RHrFVwahTr pic.twitter.com/SlkhBDgyJP
— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) March 14, 2023
Divergence Fear
Speaking on a trip to the US, Donaldson said the proposals “do not in themselves adequately remedy” unionist concerns over Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and its ability to trade with Great Britain.
Donaldson previously said he would take time to consider the Windsor deal in detail. However, his latest comments cast doubt on whether the DUP would back the new arrangements.
He called for “greater clarity” oconn how EU laws would affect Northern Irish businesses, and said the proposal for a “Stormont brake” — to give Northern Irish politicians a chance to object to new EU laws — needed to be “effective in law.”
“We cannot have a situation where Northern Ireland diverges from its most important market that being the rest of the United Kingdom,” Donaldson said.
Discussions have already begun with the UK government, and engagement would continue “to ensure we get an outcome that works,” Donaldson said.
Separately, a senior euroskeptic in Sunak’s own Conservative Party, Bill Cash, accused the premier of ducking parliamentary scrutiny by rejecting an invitation to appear before the European Scrutiny Committee, which Cash chairs.
“Parliament should not be railroaded into a deal that it has not had sufficient time to come to an educated choice over whether to proceed or renegotiate,” Cash said in a statement Tuesday.
–With assistance from Morwenna Coniam and Ellen Milligan.
(Adds James Cleverly, Bill Cash comments from fifth paragraph.)
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