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Senior DUP MP Ian Paisley has said he will vote against Rishi Sunak’s Brexit agreement with EU and expects his party colleagues to do the same.
The prime minister faces a crucial Commons vote on the compromise deal on trading arrangements for Northern Ireland on Wednesday.
MPs will have their say on secondary legislation that would give effect to one particularly important of the framework – the “Stormont brake” mechanism.
The brake would allow a minority of politicians at Stormont to formally flag concerns about new EU laws in Northern Ireland, a move that could see the UK government veto their introduction.
But Mr Paisley, one of the most outspoken critics of the framework, claimed it did not pass even one of the DUP’s seven tests on the protocol and said he would vote against it.
The hardliner told the Belfast News Letter: “I am categorically voting against, and I would be surprised if my colleagues do not join me.”
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Mr Paisley added: “My initial reaction to the Windsor Framework was that I didn’t think it cut the mustard in terms of addressing our seven key tests … I am still of that opinion – that it doesn’t address any of our seven tests.
The DUP is currently blocking powersharing arrangements at Stormont in protest at the terms of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Paisley said of Sunak compromise was the “same old substance dressed up in a new package with a ribbon around it”, adding: “It hasn’t actually changed, or addressed the fundamental issue of Northern Ireland trade being disrupted in our internal UK market.”
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said last week that some “fundamental problems” remained, but also said the Sunak deal with the EU had gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol.
While Wednesday’s vote will be a key moment, the DUP has said a special panel will take several more weeks to examine the details of the Windsor Framework before the party decides whether to return to Stormont.
Reports suggest hardliner DUP MPs such as Mr Paisley and Sammy Wilson will vote against the deal, while Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and others could still abstain.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says ‘fundamental problems’ with deal
(PA Wire)
Tory Brexiteers in the European Research Group (ERG) have not yet offered a formal verdict on the protocol deal, as it prepares to publish a report by its “star chamber” of lawyers.
But the ERG is expected to give the deal a thumbs down, according to reports. The Tory hardliners will dismisses the so-called Stormont brake as “unusable”, according to The Times – warning that any block would have to be ultimately agreed by the EU.
MPs in the ERG also claim that the Windsor agreement could stop the UK from diverging from Brussels’ rules because of new barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson said earlier this month that he would find it “very difficult” to vote for the deal in parliament, while ex-cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg had suggested many Brexiteer MPs would want to follow the DUP’s lead.
The proposed statutory instrument on the brake is due to be published on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
No 10 said more votes would be held on different aspects of the deal – raising the prospect of a return to showdown Brexit battles seen under Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
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The protocol was designed to prevent a hardening of the land border on the island of Ireland and moved regulatory and customs checks to the Irish Sea, creating economic barriers on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK and EU agreed the framework as a way to cut the red tape created by the protocol.
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