Windsor Framework: Varadkar to attend EU leaders meeting in Brussels

Irish premier Leo Varadkar is to travel to Brussels today (Thursday) for a meeting of EU leaders where the Windsor Framework will be discussed.

The leaders of 27 EU countries are also expected to discuss economic issues, energy and migration, and will meet the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

It comes after Rishi Sunak hailed "incredibly strong support" for his new deal with Brussels on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland after seeing off a backbench revolt by Tory hardliners.

A total of 22 Conservative rebels, including former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, defied a three-line whip to vote against regulations to implement a key plank of the Windsor Framework agreement.

The so-called Stormont brake, designed to give a veto over the imposition of new EU rules in NI was passed comfortably by 515 votes to 29 yesterday (Wednesday) with Labour and other opposition parties backing it.

Six DUP MPs voted against the statutory instrument along with former Tory Andrew Bridgen, who sits as an independent, while more than 40 Conservative MPs did not vote - although some would have had permission to be away from Westminster.

Mr Sunak was asked during a visit to RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, on Wednesday evening about claims that he had to rely on Labour votes to get his deal through.

He replied: "I think what you've said isn't true.

"There was incredibly strong support for the Windsor Framework, not just from my own party but across Parliament.

"It passed very solidly with Conservative votes and that is because it is a good deal for people, for families, for businesses in Northern Ireland.

"The Windsor Framework restores the balance of the Belfast Good Friday agreement, it secures Northern Ireland's place in our union, it restores sovereignty, and for all those reasons, I'm pleased that it commanded such strong support, we're going to implement it now and make sure we can look forward to a bright and better future for Northern Ireland."

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said: "By voting in favour of the Stormont brake, we have voted to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland, through a restored executive, will have full democratic input to the laws that apply to them."

Mr Heaton-Harris is expected to meet Stormont’s main political party leaders on Thursday.

However, in the Commons, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it had still not laid the ground for his party to return to powersharing at Stormont.

The executive and Assembly have been suspended since last year when the DUP walked out in protest at the way the protocol was operating.

Sir Jeffrey said the "bottom line" for the party's return was an assurance that EU law could not impede NI's ability to trade with the rest of the UK.

"Until that is resolved, I can't commit to the Government that we will restore the political institutions - it's what I want to do, but we need to get this right," he said.

"I want Stormont restored on a sustainable basis, on a stable basis where there is cross-community consent and consensus. That does not exist at the moment."

Among the rebels were former cabinet ministers Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg and ex-party chairman Sir Jake Berry.

The hardline Tory European Research Group (ERG), which opposes the deal, said that a breakdown of the voting figures showed it only got through due to opposition votes.

Meanwhile, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic is due to travel to London on Friday, where he is to meet with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris as part of the EU-UK Joint Committee.

This was a body set up as part of the Brexit process to oversee the implementation of the protocol and facilitate any changes as may have been required.

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