Rishi Sunak risks Cabinet revolt amid claims he could strike Brexit deal THIS WEEKEND despite signs the DUP will not approve the terms

• Sunak held ‘positive’ talks with EU’s Ursula von der Leyen today over a deal
• Foreign Secretary said there would be no deal without DUP support 

Rishi Sunak appears on the cusp of unveiling an EU Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland tonight, with an announcement possible as soon as this weekend, despite the refusal of unionists to back it. 

The Prime Minister held ‘positive’  talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen today over a deal that would end months of political paralysis in the province. 

It has been suggested they could meet face-to-face over the weekend to seal the agreement to solve a longstanding row over customs arrangements could be announced to MPs on Monday.

If so, all eyes will turn to the Democratic Unionist Party, which has so far said it will not support what is being put forward.

Several ministers are said to be on resignation watch, with Tory eurosceptics saying they will take their lead from the unions. 

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly today said the agreement would not be sealed without the party’s backing.  

 It means that the PM faces a heavy weekend of behind-the-scenes bargaining if he is to push it through, and the country is not to face another failed bid to smooth what has become a political sore.

The Prime Minister held ‘positive’ talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen today over a deal that would end months of political paralysis in the province.

It has been suggested the agreement to solve a longstanding row over customs arrangements could be announced to MPs on Monday.

If so, all eyes will turn to the Democratic Unionist Party (leader Jeffrey Donaldson pictured) which has so far said it will not support what is being put forward.

Britain and the EU have been working for weeks to try to revise the Protocol – the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the European Union in 2020.

But London needs the support of the DUP if a deal is to restore Northern Ireland’s power sharing government that the DUP is currently boycotting over its opposition to the protocol.

The party has proven to be a central player in almost seven years of often tortuous Brexit talks and its resistance has torpedoed previous attempts at agreement.

The PM’s plans are expected to end EU checks on most British goods sent to Northern Ireland and restore Westminster’s right to set tax policy in the Province, which was effectively still left in the EU’s single market after Brexit in order to prevent a hard border with Northern Ireland. 

But Northern Ireland is still expected to be subject to some EU trade laws, over which it currently has no say, and which is a red line for the DUP.

‘When, hopefully, we get those issues resolved then I would hope that the DUP would recognise that we’ve addressed their concerns and until we have addressed those concerns we’re not going to sign off on the deal,’ Mr Cleverly told Times Radio on Friday.

Tory MPs have received a three-line whip for Monday, meaning they must be in the Commons.

Cabinet ministers have been put on alert for a possible conference call over the weekend, according to The Times.

Mr Sunak has promised MPs that Parliament will be able to ‘express its view’ over any deal, which he hopes will get the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland.

But he would come under intense pressure if he does not give them an explicit vote, amid fears there could be a rebellion from hardline Brexiteers.

A deal had been hoped for this week but Downing Street said on Friday that ‘intensive discussions’ with the EU were ongoing.

Unusually, Downing Street declined to set out Mr Sunak’s plans for the weekend, only saying that he was working in No 10 on Friday.

Naomi Long, the head of the province’s cross-community Alliance Party, told Reuters it was wrong to give any individual party what appeared to be a veto on Northern Ireland’s future.

The Times newspaper reported on Friday that Sunak was preparing the ground to announce the deal on Monday, but any announcement would depend on the DUP, with further talks expected over the weekend.

Asked for a response to Cleverly’s comment, a spokesman for the DUP said the focus in London and Brussels should be on getting the right deal, not rushing ahead. ‘The wrong deal will not restore powersharing but will cement division for future generations,’ the spokesman told Reuters.

Opinion polls have consistently shown a majority of Northern Irish voters – who earlier opposed Brexit – favour the idea of the protocol and it is also backed by a majority of lawmakers elected to the devolved assembly last year.

But the imposition of checks on some goods coming from the rest of the United Kingdom has angered many pro-British unionists who see it as undermining the union with Britain.

The latest quarterly poll conducted for Queen’s University Belfast showed on Friday that 53% see the current lighter touch application of the rules as an appropriate means of managing Brexit, down one percentage point in the last three months. The number opposed rose to 38% from 34% last time out.

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