No changes to Brexit deal, DUP warned

Rishi Sunak is not prepared to make changes to his landmark Brexit deal as he stares down critics in the DUP and on his own backbenches.

Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party has claimed the agreement may need “reworking”.

But Mr Sunak has hinted he could press ahead with the deal without the DUP’s support.

“This is not necessarily about me or any one political party. This is about what is best for the people and communities and businesses of Northern Ireland and this agreement will make a hugely positive difference to them,” he said.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said that the government believed it had secured “the right deal for all parties in Northern Ireland” and said the government was prepared to answer questions about “how [the deal] works in practice”.

Northern Ireland Office minister and Brexiteer, Steve Baker, also warned: “This is the deal ... there is not a different deal available”.

“People are worried about the DUP but there’s an earnest sense of relief and support. I think we all believe [Mr Sunak] done it, but now we just wait with bated breath to see if the DUP agrees,” he added.

Mr Sunak claimed his Windsor Framework would give Northern Ireland the “world’s most exciting economic zone” on a trip to Belfast to sell the deal.

The prime minister is awaiting the verdict of the DUP, which has said it will take time to study the proposals, and the European Research Group of Eurosceptics in his own party.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has also been urged to “put up or shut up” over the deal, which Mr Sunak said would get Brexit done.

Sources close to the former Mr Johnson did not deny a report that he had asked the DUP to withhold support until the party had carefully studied the agreement.

One senior Tory MP said Mr Johnson should “put up or shut up” and urged Mr Sunak to suspend him if he opposes the Windsor agreement. “Support the deal or lose the whip,” he told The Independent.

Another senior Tory MP said: “Boris needs to stop playing games and realise this is all over. It’s time to be magnanimous and embrace the fact it’s a really good Brexit deal.”

David Lidington, who was de facto deputy PM under Theresa May, also called on Mr Johnson to come out and back the deal. “I hope he will recognise what Rishi Sunak has achieved and give the PM his full support,” he told The Independent.

Mr Johnson was not in the Commons chamber when Mr Sunak took questions on the deal from MPs on Monday. He took part in a Commons debate on energy security on Tuesday but did not mention Brexit.

A source close to the ex-PM said he would “study and reflect” on the Windsor Framework.

Mr Sunak is thought to have phoned his predecessor to brief him on the deal before announcing it. The PM asked Mr Johnson to “pipe down” on Brexit after a series of interventions, according to an ally of Mr Sunak.

Another said the PM should use the huge “momentum” he has behind the deal and hold a promised vote in the Commons next week, rather than let the DUP and ERG keep finding details they don’t like in the full text.

No 10 would not be drawn on the timing of a vote on the deal, saying Mr Sunak was “keen to avoid putting pressure on political parties” as they continue to study the deal of compromise struck with Brussels.

Several senior MPs told The Independent they expected a rebellion to be limited to 20 of the staunchest hardliners “at the most” – enough for Mr Sunak to get his deal through parliament without relying on Labour votes.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson – who has warned of “remain key issues of concern” – suggested on Tuesday that the unionist party could take a long time before offering a verdict.

“Our party officers, our assembly members, our MPs and ultimately even our party executive will determine the party’s approach on this issue,” he told Good Morning Ulster. “We will consult and we will take our time.”

DUP hardliner Ian Paisley Jr said his “gut instinct” was that the agreement “doesn’t cut the mustard”.

Although Sir Jeffrey raised the idea of the DUP suggesting changes, No 10 signalled there was no room to go back to the EU with alterations. “We stand ready to have further talks with those parties if they have questions about how it works in practice,” said Mr Sunak’s spokesperson.

Tory Brexiteers in the ERG are set to convene Sir Bill Cash’s so-called “star chamber” of lawyers to scrutinise the deal.

ERG chairman Mark Francois said after a Commons meeting that it would take “around a fortnight” for the “legal eagles” to carry out their “detailed legal audit”.

Asked if he was concerned the PM might push ahead without awaiting the ERG’s findings, Mr Francois said: “I’m not the prime minister of the United Kingdom, but I think it would be sensible for the prime minister to give the DUP time to come to a conclusion on this too.

“I think proceeding at a steady and sensible pace would be the best advised course of action.”

One leading ERG member was overheard in a shouting match with a fellow Tory MP in parliament earlier on Tuesday, as they came under pressure to back the deal. “We will read it in full and will make our mind up,” the ERG MP said, adding: “Don’t tell me what I think!”

Mr Sunak raised eyebrows at a Q&A session with workers in Belfast when he said his deal meant Northern Ireland was the world’s “most exciting economic zone” with access to both EU and UK markets.

Telling the audience at Lisburn’s Coca-Cola factory the province was in an unbelievably special position”, he added: “Nobody else has that. No one. Only you guys – only here, and that is the prize.”