Sunak tries to convince skeptics with his Brexit plan

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Belfast on Tuesday to sell his landmark deal with the European Union to his toughest audience: Labor politicians who fear new Brexit trade rules are weakening the position of Northern Ireland in the UK.

Britain and the 27 EU countries announced on Monday they had reached an agreement to resolve a trade dispute with Northern Ireland that has complicated their relationship since Britain left the bloc in 2020. The agreement will facilitate customs controls and other obstacles to the arrival of goods. to Northern Ireland from Great Britain, introduced after Brexit to maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is a member of the EU.

The agreement, dubbed the “Windsor Framework”, has been hailed by London and Brussels as a milestone. But Britain’s Northern Ireland Unionist politicians have yet to give him their blessing. Your support is crucial to restoring Northern Ireland’s semi-autonomous government, which collapsed due to the trade dispute, leaving 1.9 million people without a functioning government.

Sunak told the BBC the deal was “a huge step forward for the people of Northern Ireland” and he was confident local politicians would support it.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which governed alongside Irish nationalist Sinn Fein in a power-sharing deal, left the pact a year ago in protest at trade rules and refused to return until whether the rules are abolished or substantially reformed. The Northern Irish political system stipulates that Irish Nationalists and British Unionists share power and neither side can govern without the other.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said on Tuesday the party would “take time” to consider the details of the deal before making a decision.

“We are reasonable people, but we want to make sure that what the prime minister has said is reflected in the deal itself,” he said.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a border with an EU member. When the country left the bloc, both sides agreed to keep the Irish border clear of customs posts and other checks, as the opening of the border is a key part of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Instead, some products are checked on arrival in Northern Ireland from Britain. It has angered British Unionist politicians in Belfast, who say the new trade border in the Irish Sea is undermining Northern Ireland’s position in Britain.

Sunak said the new Windsor framework “does away with any idea of ​​an Irish Sea border” by removing controls on the vast majority of products. It also gives politicians in Northern Ireland a mechanism to appeal EU trade rules that would affect the region, a major demand from trade unionists.

The business sector has generally welcomed the deal, saying it will ease the burden on businesses and give Northern Irish customers access to products such as English sausages which were blocked by the initial rules after Brexit.

Some hardline Brexiteer politicians from Sunak’s Conservative Party also gave unexpected support to the deal. There is one influential member of the party who has yet to weigh in, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who brokered the original Brexit deal that Sunak has now rewritten.

The deal was also welcomed by the White House, which said it was “grateful” that the two sides were able to resolve the dispute.

“We believe this will help the prosperity of the EU and Britain and open up all sorts of (…) trade routes which were threatened in some respects,” Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. of national security.