Boris Johnson says he’ll find it ‘very difficult’ to vote for Sunak’s new Brexit deal
Boris Johnson has said he would find it “very difficult” to vote for Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, claiming it is “not about taking back control”.
The former prime minister, speaking for the first time on the new arrangements that replace his Northern Ireland Protocol, said the new Windsor Framework still means having to follow EU laws.
“I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself because I believe that we should have done something different. No matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in Brussels,” he said.
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Mr Johnson said he hopes the new deal works but if it doesn’t, the government should have “the guts” to table his controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill – which would allow the UK to rip up part of his Brexit agreement without the EU’s permission.
Brussels argued this would breach international law but Mr Johnson insisted the threat of this action “is what brought the EU to negotiate seriously”.
Speaking at the Global Soft Power Summit, the now backbench MP conceded he made mistakes in signing his Northern Ireland Protocol that caused the DUP to walk out of powersharing because of trade barriers in the Irish Sea.
Boris Johnson criticised Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal as he addressed the Global Soft Power Summit
“I thought those checks would not be onerous since there isn’t that much stuff that falls into that category; most of the goods stay in Northern Ireland,” he said.
Muttering, the former prime minister added: “It’s all my fault, I fully accept responsibility.”
Mr Sunak’s new deal aims to reduce those checks while addressing the so-called “democratic deficit” caused by NI being subject to EU trade laws.
But Mr Johnson said he had concerns about the agreement, telling the summit: “I’m conscious I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I think it is my job to do so: we must be clear about what is really going on here.
“This is not about the UK taking back control, and although there are easements this is really a version of the solution that was being offered last year to Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.
“This is the EU graciously unbending to allow us to do what we want to do in our own country, not by our laws but by theirs.”
What is the Windsor Framework?
Rishi Sunak has reached a breakthrough on the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol
Mr Sunak reached a deal with the EU on Monday following months of intensive talks aimed at breaking the deadlock over the contentious protocol – an arrangement designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit but which effectively placed a customers barrier down the Irish Sea.
The new deal includes:
- Green and red lane trade routes – where goods staying in the UK will use a green lane to avoid customs bureaucracy, while goods moving to the EU will use a red lane
- UK VAT and excise changes will apply in Northern Ireland – British products such as food and drink, trees, plants and seed potatoes will be available in Northern Ireland and pet travel requirements have been removed
- A “landmark” settlement on medicines so drugs approved for use by the UK’s medicines regulator will be automatically available in every pharmacy and hospital in Northern Ireland
- A new “Stormont brake” – to safeguard sovereignty in Northern Ireland. Stormont can stop changes in EU goods laws from applying in Northern Ireland. If the brake is pulled, the UK government will have a veto that will apply permanently
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Mr Sunak has said parliament will get to vote on the deal “at the appropriate time and that vote will be respected”.
One government whip told Sky News the comments from Mr Johnson “will sway very few colleagues” not to support the deal.
While the PM may come up against opposition from some Tory rebels, Labour has promised to back the framework to help get it over the line, saying it is in the national interest to do so.
However, the key group the prime minister has to persuade is Belfast’s Democratic Unionist Party, who pulled out of forming a government in Northern Ireland early last year in protest over the protocol.
Mr Johnson said he hoped DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson restores powersharing, even as he expressed misgivings about the deal.
This was met with stinging criticism from Naomi Smith, chief executive of internationalist campaign group Best for Britain, who said: “With characteristic shamelessness and self-pity, Boris Johnson has spoken out of both sides of his mouth live on stage, expressing hope for the Northern Ireland settlement while suggesting he is unlikely to vote for it.
“The time for indulging Johnson’s shapeshifting, selfishness and self-promotion at all costs is long past. MPs should back this framework as the first step in cleaning up his Brexit mess.”
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Johnson: ‘Unlikely I’ll do anything big in politics again’
Despite the intervention, Mr Johnson appeared to rule out a return to frontline politics when asked about his future plans, saying: “I think it very, very unlikely that I will need to do anything big in politics again.”
Reflecting on his time at the top of government, he said ministers had not done enough to convince the public of Brexit’s benefits.
“I’ve got to put my hands up for this as much as anybody – we haven’t done enough yet to convince them that it can deliver the change they want to see.
“And I think that they’re particularly dismayed about things like the small boats crossing the Channel, but they also don’t feel the economic change and so we’ve got to break out of the model that we’re in.”
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He also said he wished he had “outbid the Irish” after the pandemic as he called for the government to “get on” with “doing things differently”.
“What I wish we had done is put a big ‘invest here’ sign over Britain as soon as we were out of COVID. As soon as it was remotely credible, I think we should have done something. We should have outbid the Irish,” the former prime minister said.
In a sign he may cause further trouble on the backbenches, he also urged Mr Sunak to slash corporation tax “to Irish levels or lower”, ahead of a planned hike in the tax rate from 19% to 25% in April.
The sole surviving guest of a lunch where three others died after being served food laced with toxic mushrooms has told an Australian court that the actions of murderer Erin Patterson have left him feeling “half alive”.
Ian Wilkinson, who received a liver transplant and spent months in hospital after the poisoning in July 2023, described how he had been left traumatised as he delivered his victim impact statement at Patterson’s pre-sentencing hearing in Melbourne.
Patterson, 50, was found guilty last month of luring her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, to lunch at her home in Leongatha and poisoning them with individual portions of Beef Wellington that contained toxic death cap mushrooms.
A jury also found her guilty of the attempted murder of Mr Wilkinson, Heather’s husband.
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Australian mother found guilty of killing three relatives by serving toxic lunch
Speaking at the start of the two-day hearing, Mr Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor, said the death of his wife had left him bereft.
“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in tears.
“It’s one of the distressing shortcomings of our society that so much attention is showered on those who do evil and so little on those who do good.”
Ian and Heather Wilkinson. Pic: The Salvation Army Australia – Museum
‘I bear her no ill will’
He described Gail and Don Patterson, the parents of Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson, as the closest people to him after his wife and family.
“My life is greatly impoverished without them,” Mr Wilkinson said.
“I’m distressed that Erin has acted with callous and calculated disregard for my life and the lives of those I love. What foolishness possesses a person to think that murder could be the solution to their problems, especially the murder of people who have only good intentions towards her?”
Pic: AP
He called on Patterson, who said the poisonings were accidental and continues to maintain her innocence, to confess to her crimes.
“I encourage Erin to receive my offer of forgiveness for those harms done to me with full confession and repentance. I bear her no ill will,” he said.
“I am no longer Erin Patterson’s victim and she has become the victim of my kindness.”
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The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly.
Don and Gail Patterson. Picture: Facebook
‘An irreparably broken home’
Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson – who was invited to the lunch but declined – spoke of the devastating impact on the couple’s two children.
“The grim reality is they live in an irreparably broken home with only a solo parent, when almost everyone else knows their mother murdered their grandparents,” he said in a statement that was read out on his behalf.
Patterson attended the court in person on Monday rather than watch via a video link from prison which she did during a hearing earlier this month.
The hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.
Patterson faces a potential life sentence for each of the murders and 25 years for attempted murder.
She has 28 days from the day of her sentencing to appeal, but has not yet indicated whether she will do so.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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