A deal to resolve post-Brexit trading issues in Northern Ireland is not likely this week, a minister has suggested.
Maria Caulfield told Sky News Rishi Sunak is “working really hard” to fix problems with the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, amid signs of a possible Tory rebellion.
Asked about the prospect of a breakthrough this week she said: “I don’t know about this week, I know that the prime minister is working really hard and working with a number of politicians from across Northern Ireland, politicians within the EU, to try and resolve this.”
Politics live: Rishi Sunak meeting with cabinet as talks on NI deal continue
Later on Times Radio, she urged colleagues to give the prime minister the “time and space” to “thrash out” a deal.
“There isn’t a deal done yet so all these rumours about ministers or MPs not being happy, I haven’t seen the details, we have to give the prime minister that time and space to get these negotiations done,” she said.
“We need to give him the time and space to thrash out the final elements of any final deal.”
Maria Caulfield MP says a Brexit deal over Northern Ireland is unlikely this week
The comments came as prominent Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg compared Mr Sunak’s approach to that followed by his doomed predecessor Theresa May.
He said it was “very similar to what happened” with the former prime minister, where a policy would be presented in the hope that people would “conveniently fall in behind” it.
“Life doesn’t work like that. It’s important to get support for it first before you finalise the details and that doesn’t seem to have been done here,” he said on his ConservativeHome podcast.
Mr Sunak is understood to be discussing ways to reduce red tape on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the UK, as well as some sort of compromise on the so-called “democratic deficit” caused by NI still being subject to some EU rules so that goods can move freely into the Republic of Ireland.
But Mr Rees-Mogg suggested the PM should press ahead with the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, effectively ripping up parts of the agreement with Brussels, rather than seeking a deal which may not guarantee the return of a power-sharing executive in Stormont.
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Do we need a new Northern Ireland protocol?
The former cabinet minister said: “There seems to me to be no point in agreeing a deal that does not restore power-sharing.
“That must be the objective. If it doesn’t achieve that objective, I don’t understand why the government is spending political capital on something that won’t ultimately succeed.”
He said the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (NIPB) had the support of “the person who had a mandate from the British voters” – Boris Johnson – and he questioned Mr Sunak’s handling of the situation.
“I don’t know why so much political capital has been spent on something without getting the DUP and the ERG (European Research Group of Conservative MPs) on side first,” he said.
Mr Johnson has called on the government to press on with the legislation enabling it to override parts of the protocol without the EU’s permission, and some have interpreted words from Home Secretary Suella Braverman as support for the former prime minister’s position.
She described the bill as “one of the biggest tools that we have in solving the problem on the Irish Sea”.
Why the timetable for a deal appears to be slipping
There will be no deal sealed on the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements today, I’m told.
There were suggestions over the weekend that Rishi Sunak had hoped to brief the cabinet on a deal this morning ahead of a lightning vote in parliament.
That is not on track, with intense talks still underway at official level.
Sammy Wilson, chief whip of the DUP – the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland – gave a flavour of why the pause button had been pressed when he spoke to Sky News yesterday morning.
Mr Wilson said the DUP would not accept having to administer EU laws which would bring about “the break-up of the Union”. He accused the prime minister of negotiating “with an attitude of defeat”.
There are some in Westminster concerned that any plan to bounce the DUP into accepting a compromise when they’ve not had time to prepare their supporters will not work.
A minister told me today that the idea a deal would be struck imminently was “spin” and far from reality, although talks continue.
If unionist opposition hardens, the chances Rishi Sunak can bring Brexiteers in his party with him – some of whom he met for talks yesterday – recedes.
If tough compromises on all sides cannot be made in the coming hours, the timetable is likely to slip to next week, given the year anniversary of the Ukraine war on Friday, or further.
What are the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol?
The NIPB, dubbed by the EU as “illegal and unrealistic”, was introduced by Mr Johnson but paused by Mr Sunak while he tries to resolve issues with the protocol through negotiations.
The mechanism was put in place after Brexit to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, which all sides agreed was necessary to preserve peace.
But unionists are unhappy with the trade barriers the protocol has created on goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and believe the arrangement is threatening NI’s place in the union.
There is also anger over the role played by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to oversee trade rules – which the DUP and some Conservative MPs see as an erosion of the UK’s sovereignty and incompatible with the aims of Brexit.
Read more:
What is the Northern Ireland Protocol and why does it matter?
What is the Brexit deal being discussed between UK and EU?
Mr Sunak held Cabinet meeting on Tuesday amid growing anticipation that the UK and the EU could be on the verge of agreeing on a new deal.
But the PM is facing up to a potential battle with members of his own party as he seeks to satisfy the demands of both Conservative MPs and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who have warned the breakup of the UK “is at stake”.
As pressure builds on the PM, the Times newspaper reported that some ministers could be prepared to resign if Mr Sunak’s solution to the protocol risks the place of Northern Ireland within the UK.
Number 10 has remained tight-lipped about what is being discussed with Brussels, but a source said that central to Mr Sunak’s focus was safeguarding Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
Sky News understands Mr Sunak met with key Brexiteers on Monday and this morning, ahead of talks between members of the European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs tonight.
A source from the ERG told political editor Beth Rigby that Downing Street “has over-briefed” on the prospect of an agreement.
The government insisted yesterday that a final deal had not been struck and said “you will hear our position should a deal be agreed”.
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Former NI secretary Lord Hain explains how protocol issues could be resolved
on Northern Ireland Protocol
Sir Keir Starmer has urged the prime minister to allow the commons to have its say on any final deal, offering Labour support to secure the approval of any new agreement in the event of any Tory rebellion.
There are hopes that a fresh settlement on post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland will be able to secure the return of powersharing at the Stormont Assembly, after the DUP walked out in protest at the protocol last February.