Northern Ireland deal to be voted on in British Parliament

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, said on Monday (27) that he will submit to a vote in Parliament the agreement reached with the European Union (EU) to reform the Protocol on Northern Ireland.

“Parliament will hold a vote, at the appropriate time, and that vote will be respected,” Sunak told a news conference.

Sunak would also go to the House of Commons this Monday to explain the agreement with the EU to British MPs. This is one of the prime minister’s main challenges at the beginning of his term, in particular the need to obtain the support of the more eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (DUP), which are the forces that lead the opposition to the current protocol.

The leader of the DUP, Jeffrey Donaldson, assured that he will not give an immediate answer on his position, but that he will take time to analyze the text signed in Windsor by Sunak and the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen.

“It is important that we give everyone the time and space they need to study in detail the new regime that we have announced”, said the prime minister.

Sunak has a large majority in the House of Commons, which makes an eventual rebellion in the conservative ranks difficult. In addition, he was assured that the largest opposition Labor Party would secure the necessary votes to move the deal forward.

“Due to the nature and breadth of the deal, it will take some time for everyone to digest. But ultimately, it’s not about me or the politicians, it’s about the people of Northern Ireland and what is better for them”, assured Sunak.

According to the current protocol, Northern Ireland is included in the Community and British internal market, so trade controls between the United Kingdom and the EU are carried out between the island of Great Britain and Ireland, which avoids the increase of a physical border between the two Irelands and allows not to jeopardize the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

This commercial border, located on the Irish Sea, has also created political problems among unionists, as they consider it to be detrimental to their relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom.