- Rishi Sunak was “giving it all” to reach a new post-Brexit deal with the EU.
- Sunak stated that he was optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations.
- Sunak’s Conservative Party lawmakers have been told to be in parliament at that time.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “giving it all” to reach a new post-Brexit deal with the EU on Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements, calling it critical to guaranteeing the province’s return to power-sharing.
“There’s unfinished business on Brexit and I want to get the job done,” Sunak told The Sunday Times newspaper, which said the announcement of a deal was expected as soon as Monday.
Sunak’s Conservative Party lawmakers have been told to be in parliament at that time.
Britain secured an agreement with Brussels known as the Northern Ireland Protocol as part of its 2020 deal to leave the EU in order to avoid introducing politically problematic checkpoints along the 500-kilometer (300-mile) land border with EU member Ireland.
However, because it retained Northern Ireland in the European Union‘s single market for goods, the agreement essentially created a border in the Irish Sea for some products moving from Britain.
Sunak stated that he will try to address the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) reservations about the pact, which are concerned about the EU’s continued influence over Northern Ireland.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, told reporters earlier on Saturday that the UK and the EU were making progress.
Sunak stated that he was optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations and that he would spend the weekend attempting to complete them.
As a gesture to the DUP, he stated the protocol had rendered the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for Northern Ireland unbalanced, prompting the DUP to boycott Northern Ireland’s assembly.
Sunak stated that he was optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations and that he would spend the weekend attempting to complete them.
As a gesture to the DUP, he stated the protocol had rendered the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for Northern Ireland unbalanced, prompting the DUP to boycott Northern Ireland’s assembly.
“If we want to restore the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland, which I very much want to do and I think that’s what people need and deserve, then we need to resolve the issues of the protocol,” Sunak said.
He said Wednesday’s shooting of a police officer “reminds us of the delicate situation in Northern Ireland, the fragility of it, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. And that’s why getting power-sharing up and running is really important.” The officer is in critical condition in the hospital.
Sunak was optimistic that the agreement addressed all of the DUP’s requirements, although the party was disappointed that Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, would be required to adopt some EU single-market legislation.
The DUP’s leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, stated that he was “inclined to reject the proposal.”
When asked about DUP and Conservative lawmakers’ outrage about being kept in the dark about the deal, Sunak replied, “I know, people will always want to know every little detail, but ultimately, you can’t conduct a very complicated negotiation in public.”
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