Sunak: I’m ‘giving it my all’ to do a protocol deal and restore the NI Assembly

Rishi Sunak said his administration is “giving everything we have” to finalize a deal to resolve issues with Northern Ireland Protocol but insists that a pact is not yet in place.

The prime minister said that he hoped for a “positive result” in the negotiations with European Union while Westminster prepares to present a new kind of protocol.

The British leader is keen to ensure Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) backs his final deal as he seeks to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

The DUP is refusing to take part in a cross-community Stormont government with Sinn Fein in protest at the impact of the Brexit deal on trade between Northern Ireland and the UK.

The party has issued seven tests that Mr Sunak’s pact will have to meet to win his support, including addressing what it calls the “democratic deficit” of Northern Ireland, which is subject to EU rules but has no say in them.

Mr Sunak, speaking to The Sunday Times, promised that “everything we do will meet all those points” in terms of unionist concerns.

The landmark deal has been close to being announced for nearly a week.

And after No 10 said “good progress” had been made during Friday’s talks between the Prime Minister and the president of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyena breakthrough seemed imminent.

However, Ms von der Leyen’s plan to travel to the UK on Saturday to meet Mr Sunak and then have tea with the king at Windsor Castle was canceled on Friday night.

Downing Street has since said that “intense” discussions are continuing between London and Brussels.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday that talks between Britain and the European Union were “close to completion” and called on all sides to “go the extra mile” to sign off on the talks.

The prime minister told The Sunday Times that he was continuing to push for a final deal with the bloc.

“I’ve been here all weekend trying to do it,” he told the paper.

“We’re giving it all we’ve got.”

He admitted there were examples “where it appears that Northern Ireland is not part of the Union” and that the protocol had “unbalanced” the Good Friday Agreement, which helped end the turmoil in Northern Ireland.

Citing the example of the failure to implement alcohol duty reforms in Northern Ireland when he was chancellor – because the protocol meant it would fall under the EU’s single market rules on duties – Mr Sunak pledged to work to meet unionist demands with any deal. which he provides.

“I’m a Conservative, I’m a Brexiteer and I’m a trade unionist and everything we do fits all those parameters, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense to me, let alone anyone else,” he told The Sunday. Times.

Multiple reports suggest a deal between the UK and the EU is all but done – with Mr Sunak delaying the announcement until he is sure it will be accepted.

No 10 denies this, but reports suggest Mr Sunak has secured concessions that will ease the flow of trade between Northern Ireland and Britain – a key issue for unionists.

Trusted traders from the UK to Northern Ireland will reportedly not have to undergo checks under the plans, while VAT rates, taxes and state aid policy will be set by Westminster rather than Brussels as part of the proposal.

The Prime Minister is also reported to have agreed ways in which the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast will check prior legislative scrutiny of new EU laws in a bid to address the so-called “democracy deficit”.

Downing Street will be eagerly awaiting Boris Johnson’s view on the new terms, with the former prime minister recently pleading with Mr Sunak not to abandon his Northern Ireland Protocol bill, which would unilaterally rewrite parts of the treaty.

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Johnson, who had been urged to back Mr Sunak’s return to appease the White House, responded by saying: “To hell with the Americans”.

A source close to Mr Johnson told the PA: “It was a banter in the hall which someone obviously misunderstood.

“That’s not the language he would use.”

The fresh speculation about a new pact comes after Downing Street came under fire for a proposed meeting between EU leader Ms von der Leyen and the king.

Number 10 is said to have called for Mr Sunak’s deal to be called the “Windsor Agreement” if the German politician was content to sign the deal while in Britain.

Sammy Wilson, DUP MP, accused the Prime Minister of “dragging the King into a very controversial political issue”.

A British government source said it would not be a bad idea for the king to meet a visiting European leader.

A source told the PA news agency that it was “wrong to assume that the king would be involved in anything remotely political”.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.