Windsor Framework: Government wins Brexit deal vote – despite Tory rebellion and DUP anger
The government has won support in parliament for part of its new Brexit deal by 515 votes to 29, despite a rebellion from some of its own MPs and a backlash from members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the Stormont brake was “one of the most significant changes” in the post-Brexit plan for the region – “a robust change that gives the UK a veto over dynamic alignment with EU rules”.
But former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss refused to back the policy, with Mr Johnson saying it would mean the “whole of the UK” was unable “properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit”.
And DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he cannot commit his party “will restore the political institutions” in Northern Ireland as a result of the deal.
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Rishi Sunak reached the new Brexit agreement, known as the Windsor Framework, in February with the European Commission in an attempt to fix ongoing issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Unionists have been refusing to form a government in the region while the protocol is in place, saying it had created trade barriers in the Irish Sea and threatened Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market.
The prime minister said his plan, including new trade lanes, the reduction in EU laws, and the so-called Stormont brake – to stop changes to or new laws being brought in from the EU – offered a better future for Northern Ireland post-Brexit.
But the measures have not won over pro-Brexit Tories who form the European Research Group (ERG) or the DUP, who believe the EU will still have too much of a say over what happens in Northern Ireland.
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Mark Francois says the Stormont brake – a key feature of the new agreement that aimed to resolve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol – is ‘practically useless’
Mr Sunak promised to give MPs a say on the plan in the Commons – and today they were given a vote specifically on the Stormont break – the result of which would be seen by Number 10 as approving the whole deal.
A number of Conservative politicians gave the plan their support, with former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith saying the framework had made “huge strides”.
He pointed to polls in the region that showed the majority of Northern Ireland voters backed the plan, adding: “We must cherish, nurture and expand that support and consent at every opportunity.”
Conservative former minister Vicky Ford, who grew up in Northern Ireland, echoed his point, adding: “The people of Northern Ireland, and indeed the people in the UK, need to move on.”
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Steve Baker says he believes both Liz Truss and Boris Johnson ought to be voting for the deal
But Tory former minister Sir John Redwood said: “What is the point of rushing through a vote on this protocol when it is the protocol and the agreement behind it that prevents Stormont meeting, which means the protocol would never be used?”
The new agreement got the backing of Labour, with shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle saying: “My party will be voting in unanimity today. It is [the Conservative] party that is getting in the way of getting this across the line, because it is [their] party that is split over how to vote on the issue before today.
“We are acting in the national interest. They are riven with division.”
However, DUP MP Jim Shannon also believed the framework was being “shoved” through, and saw the UK giving the EU “sovereignty over the courts and power over Northern Ireland”.
He added: “It… is being shoved through the House by the government – the Conservative and Unionist Party. With some dismay I actually question now, Conservative, and where is the unionist?”
While Sir Jeffrey said his party would continue to “work intensively to solve these issues… in the knowledge that what has already been achieved has been because we were not prepared to accept the undermining of Northern Ireland’s place within the union of the United Kingdom”.
World
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
World
Brazil implores businesses to attend major climate summit, despite ‘second thoughts’ amid Trump backlash
The Brazilian hosts of the biggest climate meeting of the year have implored businesses to attend in November, amid concerns some are backing away from the climate agenda into the shadow of Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News, Ana Toni, chief executive of the COP30 climate summit in November, admitted some companies were having “second thoughts” about the global switch to green economies because policymakers were creating uncertainty.
The US President Donald Trump has been attacking wind farms and waging tariff wars that could slow the transition to green energy.
Banks including HSBC and Barclays have ditched a net zero alliance set up just four years ago by Mark Carney, now the Canadian Prime Minister.
Ana Toni, Brazil’s climate secretary, is chief executive of the COP30 climate talks. Pic: Reuters
But even before Trump took office, tech companies were quietly dropping climate targets to prioritise energy-hungry AI, and other businesses were “greenhushing” their climate initiatives for fear of backlash.
In this environment, there are fears fewer business leaders will attend the annual talks, which are also being hosted in a city on the edge of the Amazon that hasn’t enough hotel rooms.
On Friday, the COP30 team wrote to business leaders urging them to “step forward, not back” and travel to Belem, despite “logistical challenges” and the “background of systemic uncertainty”.
Ana Toni told Sky News: “We are very concerned that the enabling conditions must be there so that the private sector can also deliver where they do best, which is bringing in technology, bringing innovation and accelerating the process of decarbonisation.”
In August the share price of Danish wind farm developer plummeted after the US halted its Rhode Island wind farm, while the British Tories and Reform parties are also attacking net zero.
Ana Toni met with King Charles and leaders of other COP summits at Clarence House last year. Pic: Reuters
But Ms Toni there is “nothing to panic [about], because we can see that the transition is inevitable,” citing major progress in China, India and Europe and Brazil.
Referring to the US’s withdrawal from the COP process, she said: “198 countries minus one is not zero. And we will put all our efforts of working with the 197 countries that want to go forward and want to protect their population.”
“Climate action is not only [still] cool, it is necessary,” Ms Toni said.
“We all need to face reality. We are going through a huge climate crisis… If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Companies understand that.”
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