RISHI Sunak will seal a breakthrough Brexit deal with Brussels tomorrow as EU boss Ursula von der Leyen heads to Britain.
The PM and European Commission chief are poised to sign the agreement after hundreds of hours of talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The PM is ready to shake on a new deal with EU boss Ursula von der Leyen
Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker seems to give the thumbs-up
The visit will fire the starting gun on the PM’s biggest gamble of his career as he seeks to sell the deal to hardline Brexiteers in the Democratic Unionist Party and his own sceptical Tory backbenchers.
HOAR can reveal the talks which led to tomorrow’s pact were secretly started under Liz Truss when she became PM — and were inherited by Mr Sunak’s team.
Both sides have been striving to secure a new arrangement before the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in April to smooth trade problems over the border and get the government in Stormont back up and running.
The PM and EU chief are due to meet outside London at lunchtime to shake on the deal — which is said to slash red tape and make it easier to do business.
Subject to a formal nod from both sides, ministers are expected to then approve the agreement at a special Cabinet meeting in the afternoon.
The PM and EU boss will later hold a joint press conference, before Mr Sunak returns to London to reveal details to the Commons.
No10 said tonight Mr Sunak would make sure any deal “fixes problems on the ground, ensures trade flows freely within the whole of the UK, safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in our Union and returns sovereignty to the people of Northern Ireland”.
After weeks of positive mood music from both sides, a joint statement from the European Commission head and PM tonight said: “Today, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“President von der Leyen will therefore meet with the Prime Minister in the UK tomorrow.”
However, the location for the momentous summit could spark yet another political row after reports the EU chief could be invited to meet King Charles at Windsor while she was in the UK.
Angry MPs insisted the monarch should not be dragged into the political row over the Northern Ireland agreement after suggestions it could be dubbed the “Windsor agreement”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said it would be “on the borderline of constitutional propriety” to use the King to sell the deal.
Tonight MPs were braced for the small print, which they will see tomorrow afternoon.
But the PM looked likely to push ahead with the new deal with or without the backing of the DUP — and possibly several of his own backbenchers.
This week, Boris Johnson refused repeatedly to say if he would vote for Mr Sunak’s agreement.
And today DUP MP Sammy Wilson said: “The one thing which is the red line for us… Northern Ireland will be, and as far as we understand it, will continue to be under laws made in Brussels.”
Hardline Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois insisted he wanted to see EU law expunged from Northern Ireland — and warned the PM not to try to bludgeon it through the Commons without a vote.
He told Sky: “If the DUP don’t consent to the deal then it is simply not going to fly and that’s been absolutely obvious right from the word go. These people won’t be bullied by anybody.”
Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker is known to be a Brexit hardman
DUP MP Sammy Wilson was skeptical of the deal
Tonight, Downing Street was not expecting any immediate resignations but refused to say whether MPs would have a full vote on the new agreement.
Brexit hardman-turned-Northern-Ireland-minister Steve Baker gave the cameras a thumbs-up and a smile as he left Downing Street this afternoon.
