Unionists obstruct Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal

The members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are determined not to let go of any concessions to the government of Rishi Sunak. During a vote this Wednesday in the British Parliament, the deputies must decide on the “Windsor framework”, concluded on February 27 between the British Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Although it is supposed to significantly reduce the number of checks on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland, the main Northern Irish Unionist Party will vote against it because it opposes one of the technical provisions dubbed the Stormont”. This must allow the Northern Irish Parliament (located in the Palace of Stormont) to block the application of any new European legislation in the British province.

A setback for the prime minister

“The ‘brake’ is not designed for, and therefore cannot apply to, EU legislation which is already in place and for which no consent has been given for its application,” writes Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, in an end of inadmissibility. “There remain key areas of concern that require further clarification, rework and modification,” he said. Radical Brexiters from the Conservative Party could also join the DUP and vote against it. But Rishi Sunak should get the support of the Labor Party to pass the text.

This is a setback for the British Prime Minister, who since his arrival in Downing Street has made this file – a subject of dispute with Europe since Brexit and largely exploited politically by Boris Johnson – a priority. The DUP’s refusal has paralyzed Northern Irish political life for a year, as the party refuses to sit in the local parliament and assume its role in power-sharing with Sinn Féin. The latter called on the DUP to return to Stormont. “If the DUP has any concerns they have the right to raise them, but that should not hinder the formation of an executive,” said Sinn Féin MP Deirdre Hargey.

25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

Jeffrey Donaldson’s intransigence also risks hampering the Prime Minister’s rapprochement maneuver with the European Union. This issue is all the more important as the international community prepares to celebrate, on 10 April, the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (April 1998), which restored peace in Northern Ireland and abolished any border between the two parts of the island.

US President Joe Biden, himself of Irish origin, has made it the condition for a return to normal trade relations with the United Kingdom. It is also planned that he comes to give a speech at Queen’s University in Belfast, on this occasion. Other American personalities have already announced their arrival, such as former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, former Secretary of State.

American pressures

At a dinner party on March 15, two days before St. Patrick’s Day, all of Washington’s Irish-American lobbyists (33 million Americans claim Irish descent) came together to put pressure on the five Northern Irish parties to vote for the ‘Windsor Framework’. On this occasion, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, said he hoped that this text would open “the way” for the return of the DUP to government.

Proof of American involvement in this matter, the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, also met in Washington with Northern Irish political leaders, including Jeffrey Donaldson. For the US administration, it is clear that the celebration of the Good Friday agreement is an important event, and it does not intend to let the DUP spoil the celebration.

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