Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), announced that his party intends to vote against the UK government’s new UK-EU deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. The deal, known as the Windsor Framework, was agreed upon by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last month, with the aim of reducing the number of post-Brexit checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain to solve the dispute between the UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol. On Wednesday, British MPs will vote on regulations to implement the “Stormont brake,” a key part of the framework that allows Northern Ireland Assembly lawmakers to flag concerns about the imposition of new EU laws in Northern Ireland, potentially leading to a UK government veto. Despite the progress made in the framework, Donaldson stated that there remain unresolved issues, and the DUP will vote against the measures until further progress is made. The immediate future of devolution at Stormont, which has not had a functioning local government for over a year since the DUP withdrew from the power-sharing executive in protest at the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, may depend on the party’s decision.
DUP rejects UK-EU deal on Northern Ireland trade.
