Brexit: Rishi Sunak says Northern Ireland in ‘unbelievably special position’ because of access to EU single market
Rishi Sunak has said his new post-Brexit deal puts Northern Ireland in an “unbelievably special position” because it gives it access to both the UK and European Union markets.
The prime minister said implementing the newly negotiated Windsor Framework would create “the world’s most exciting economic zone” with international companies “queuing up to invest” in the region.
“If we get this right, if we get this framework implemented, if we get the Executive back up and running here, Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position – unique position in the entire world, European continent – in having privileged access, not just to the UK home market, which is enormous… but also the European Union single market,” he said on a visit to Lisburn’s Coca-Cola factory.
Politics live: Sunak ‘over the moon’ with deal as he tours Northern Ireland to get DUP onside
“Nobody else has that. No one. Only you guys: only here, and that is the prize.”
The comments depart from the government’s previous position of avoiding any overt recognition of the benefits of a closer trading partnership with the EU.
The whole of the UK had access to the single market before Brexit, which Mr Sunak voted for.
Critics were quick to point this out, with Naomi Long, the leader of Belfast’s Alliance party, tweeting: “Nobody else has that.” Well, you did, actually. Plus, the opt outs. But you binned it for Brexit. Go figure…”
In his pitch to workers about the benefits of his deal, the prime minister added: “I can tell you, when I go around the world and talk to businesses, they know that – they’re like: ‘That’s interesting. If you guys get this sorted, then we want to invest in Northern Ireland, because nowhere else does that exist.’
“That’s like the world’s most exciting economic zone.”
He said the government aims to work with international companies to help them “take advantage of Northern Ireland’s very special position”.
“And they are queuing up to do so, particularly from the US actually.”
Government has changed its tune about benefits of closer EU trading ties
A striking moment from the Q&A was Rishi Sunak’s enthusiastic celebration of Northern Ireland having access to both UK markets and the EU, which he described as “an unbelievably special position”.
This is a significant departure from the government’s previous position – any overt recognition of the benefits of a closer trading partnership with the EU has always been anathema to Brexiteers and steadfastly avoided.
While many business leaders in Northern Ireland previously supported the Northern Ireland Protocol because of the dual access they enjoyed as a result, with the de facto border in the Irish Sea so unpalatable to unionists leaders in Westminster have not wanted to dwell on the benefits of a closer relationship with the EU.
But today Mr Sunak has been waxing lyrical about the “prize” enjoyed by Northern Ireland under the framework and “the world’s most exciting economic zone”.
And the PM is holding out the prospect of huge economic investment to businesses there as a result, promising that the government will help companies take advantage of this situation.
He claims organisations in the US are “queueing up” to get involved. This argument is much more of a carrot than a stick approach – a mark of the PM’s confidence (unsurprisingly for a former chancellor) in the importance of economic incentives.
PM ‘not endorsing single market’
Speaking after the visit, Downing Street stressed the comments should not be seen as the prime minister endorsing EU single market benefits for the whole of the UK.
The PM’s spokesman said the British people made their decision in 2016 in the Brexit referendum but Northern Ireland needed access to both markets because of its unique situation.
“With regards to Northern Ireland, it is simply a fact that because of our respect for the Good Friday Agreement and the central importance; Northern Ireland’s unique position means it needs to have access to both markets, not least to avoid a border on the island of Ireland, which nobody wants to see.
“That puts it in a unique position and what the framework does is finally cement those capabilities.”
Boris Johnson’s “oven ready” Brexit deal took the UK out of the single market but kept Northern Ireland closely aligned to it in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
However, this effectively placed a customs border in the Irish Sea, with extra checks required on goods crossing from Great Britain into Northern Ireland – something the former PM promised would not happen.
Mr Sunak has spent months trying to negotiate new terms to replace the contentious Northern Ireland protocol and on Monday made a “historic breakthrough” as he signed a new deal with the EU on the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
The Windsor Framework has eased checks on goods from the UK while maintaining free flowing trade on the island of Ireland.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is the Windsor Framework?
Read More:
Five key sections of the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland
Rishi Sunak seeks to secure backing from Northern Ireland parties for post-Brexit deal
The agreement does mean Northern Ireland must continue following Brussels’ trade rules, but the PM has negotiated a ‘Stormont brake’ which allows the devolved government to block any EU law changes from coming into force in the region.
Mr Sunak said he believed “hand on heart” that it addressed the concerns expressed about the current set up, which triggered the collapse of power-sharing in Stormont.
Northern Ireland has been without an Executive Assembly since early last year, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) pulled out of Stormont in protest at the Protocol.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said “there remain key issues of concern” regarding the new deal despite “significant progress” made.
However he insisted his party would be “reasonable” as it spends the next few days studying the framework.
The PM is also facing the challenge of winning over Tory Eurosceptics and his predecessor Mr Johnson, who is yet to give a verdict on the Windsor Framework.
Mr Sunak indicated he had discussed the deal with Mr Johnson, telling the BBC earlier on Tuesday “of course I speak to the former prime minister”.
Tory Brexiteers in the European Research Group (ERG) are to meet later today and will convene MP Sir Bill Cash’s so-called “star chamber” of lawyers to scrutinise the deal before deciding whether to back it.
UK
Specialist teams and online investigators deployed across England and Wales to tackle ‘national emergency’ of violence against women and girls
Specialist investigation teams for rape and sexual offences are to be created across England and Wales as the Home Secretary declares violence against women and girls a “national emergency”.
Shabana Mahmood said the dedicated units will be in place across every force by 2029 as part of Labour’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy due to be launched later this week.
The use of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs), which had been trialled in several areas, will also be rolled out across England and Wales. They are designed to target abusers by imposing curfews, electronic tags and exclusion zones.
The orders cover all forms of domestic abuse, including economic abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, stalking and ‘honour’-based abuse. Breaching the terms can carry a prison term of up to 5 years.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Govt ‘thinking again’ on abuse strategy
Nearly £2m will also be spent funding a network of officers to target offenders operating within the online space.
Teams will use covert and intelligence techniques to tackle violence against women and girls via apps and websites.
A similar undercover network funded by the Home Office to examine child sexual abuse has arrested over 1,700 perpetrators.
Abuse is ‘national emergency’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement: “This government has declared violence against women and girls a national emergency.
“For too long, these crimes have been considered a fact of life. That’s not good enough. We will halve it in a decade.
“Today we announce a range of measures to bear down on abusers, stopping them in their tracks. Rapists, sex offenders and abusers will have nowhere to hide.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Angiolini Inquiry: Recommendations are ‘not difficult’
The target to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is a Labour manifesto pledge.
The government said the measures build on existing policy, including facial recognition technology to identify offenders, improving protections for stalking victims, making strangulation a criminal offence and establishing domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.
Read more from Sky News:
Demands for violence and abuse reforms
Women still feel unsafe on streets
Minister ‘clarifies’ violence strategy
Labour has ‘failed women’
But the Conservatives said Labour had “failed women” and “broken its promises” by delaying the publication of the violence against women and girls strategy.
Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, said that Labour “shrinks from uncomfortable truths, voting against tougher sentences and presiding over falling sex-offender convictions. At every turn, Labour has failed women.”
There have been no migrant arrivals in small boats crossing the Channel for 28 days, according to Home Office figures.
The last recorded arrivals were on 14 November, making it the longest uninterrupted run since autumn 2018 after no reported arrivals on Friday.
However, a number of Border Force vessels were active in the English Channel on Saturday morning, indicating that there may be arrivals today.
So far, 39,292 people have crossed to the UK aboard small boats this year – already more than any other year except 2022.
The record that year was set at 45,774 arrivals.
It comes as the government has stepped up efforts in recent months to deter people from risking their lives crossing the Channel – but measures are not expected to have an impact until next year.
Debris of a small boat used by people thought to be migrants to cross the Channel lays amongst the sand dunes in Gravelines, France. Pic: PA
December is normally one of the quietest for Channel crossings, with a combination of poor visibility, low temperatures, less daylight and stormy weather making the perilous journey more difficult.
The most arrivals recorded in the month of December is 3,254, in 2024.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met with ministers from other European countries this week as discussions over possible reform to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) continue.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
France agrees to start intercepting small boats
The issue of small boat arrivals – a very small percentage of overall UK immigration – has become a salient issue in British politics in recent years.
Last month, French maritime police announced they would soon be able to intercept boats in the English Channel.
The King has shared in a television address that, thanks to early diagnosis, his cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year.
In a televised address, Charles said his “good news” was “thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctors’ orders”.
“This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years,” he added.
“Testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the 50% of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”
The King announced in February 2024 that he had been diagnosed with cancer and was beginning treatment.
The monarch postponed all public-facing engagements, but continued with his duties as head of state behind palace walls, conducting audiences and Privy Council meetings.
He returned to public duties in April last year and visited University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in central London with the Queen and discussed his “shock” at being diagnosed when he spoke to a fellow cancer patient.
Sources suggested last December his treatment would continue in 2025 and was “moving in a positive direction”.
The King began returning to public duties in April last year. File pic: PA
The King has chosen not to reveal what kind of cancer he has been treated for. Palace sources have partly put that down to the fact that he doesn’t want one type of cancer to appear more significant or attract more attention than others.
In a statement after the speech aired, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has responded exceptionally well to treatment and his doctors advise that ongoing measures will now move into a precautionary phase.”
Sir Keir Starmer praised the video message as “a powerful message,” and said: “I know I speak for the entire country when I say how glad I am that his cancer treatment will be reduced in the new year.
“Early cancer screening saves lives.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch: King Charles gives update on treatment
Early detection can give ‘the precious gift of hope’
His message on Friday was broadcast at 8pm in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a joint campaign by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
In an appeal to people to get screened for the disease early, the King said: “I know from my own experience that a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming.
“Yet I also know that early detection is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams – and, to their patients, the precious gift of hope. These are gifts we can all help deliver.”
Charles noted that “at least nine million people in our country are not up to date with the cancer screenings available to them,” adding: “That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed.
“The statistics speak with stark clarity. To take just one example: When bowel cancer is caught at the earliest stage, around nine in ten people survive for at least five years.
“When diagnosed late, that falls to just one in ten. Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives.”
Minor inconvenience of screening ‘a small price to pay’
The King acknowledged that people often avoid screening “because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable”. But, he added: “If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.
“A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told either they don’t need further tests, or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow.”
Read more from Sky News:
Christmas tree chopped down hours after lights switch-on
More photos from Epstein’s estate released
Taylor Swift breaks down in tears over Southport attacks
Giving his “most heartfelt thanks” to doctors, nurses, researchers and charity workers, the King added: “As I have observed before, the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion. But compassion must be paired with action.
“This December, as we gather to reflect on the year past, I pray that we can each pledge, as part of our resolutions for the year ahead, to play our part in helping to catch cancer early.
“Your life – or the life of someone you love – may depend upon it.”
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024