Rishi Sunak promises ‘beginning of a new chapter’ as he unveils ‘Windsor Framework’ deal on Brexit
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has outlined details of the “new Windsor Framework” agreed with the European Union to overcome trade barriers in Northern Ireland following Brexit.
The prime minister said the agreement was a “historic” and a “decisive breakthrough” that “delivers smooth-flowing trade within the whole of the United Kingdom, protects Northern Ireland’s place in our union and safeguards sovereignty for the people of Northern Ireland”.
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
Follow live updates on new post-Brexit deal
For weeks, there has been speculation over whether a new deal could be thrashed out three years after Brexit took place as Mr Sunak entered talks with the EU.
But terms of the deal were revealed at a news conference following final talks between Mr Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Windsor this lunchtime.
Mr Sunak said the agreement “marks a turning point for the people of Northern Ireland” that “fixes the practical problems they face” yet “preserves the balance of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement”.
On the changes to customs and VAT rules, Mr Sunak said: “This means we have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea.”
Ms von der Leyen said the 27-page, 13,031-word framework “will allow us to begin a new chapter” and it “provides for long-lasting solutions that both of us are confident will work for all people and businesses in Northern Ireland”.
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‘We knew deal would not be easy’
The two leaders were glowing in their respect for each other, with Ms von der Leyen calling the PM “dear Rishi” a few times and said they were “honest with each other about the difficulties in our bilateral relationship and it was vital to put that on the right footing”.
Mr Sunak said: “The United Kingdom and European Union may have had our differences in the past, but we are allies, trading partners and friends.
“Something that we’ve seen clearly the past year as we joined with others to support Ukraine. This is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship.”
Next hurdle: Tory Brexiteers and DUP
Mr Sunak put the deal – the biggest move of his premiership – to his cabinet on Monday afternoon during a virtual meeting but a vote by MPs in the Commons is not expected until possibly next week.
Following speculation there may not be a vote on the deal by MPs, Mr Sunak confirmed parliament will have a vote “at the appropriate time”.
On whether Tory Brexiteers and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – who has refused to form an executive in Stormont in protest of the former protocol – may try to block the deal, Mr Sunak said it is “not about politicians” and is about “what’s best” for the people of Northern Ireland.
Earlier in the day, Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg warned Mr Sunak of a possible Tory revolt if the DUP did not support the deal.
The two sides appeared cordial as they completed the deal’s details. Pic: Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said in a statement that the agreement showed “significant progress has been secured across a number of areas”, but there remained “key issues of concern”, adding: “There can be no disguising the fact that in some sectors of our economy EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland.”
He said his party would “study the detail” of the framework and “where necessary we stand ready to engage with the government in order to seek further clarification, re-working or change as required”.
However, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill said there should now be no more delays to the restoration of the Stormont institutions.
“I was always very clear that the protections that were secured within the protocol were very necessary, they remain necessary,” she told Sky News.
“Protecting those things that were working and smoothing out the things that needed to be fixed, that is the position we are standing in this evening.
“All different parties need to sit down at the executive table taking the decisions which impact on people’s lives, that is where we should be.”
Jeffrey Donaldson and Michelle O’Neill have both given their responses to the new deal
Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar backed the deal, saying it provided “workable and durable” solutions.
He added: “The agreement also paves the way for new and more positive relations between the UK and the EU and between the UK and Ireland.
“This is a time of great trouble in the world. We need to be partners and friends. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also supported the deal, saying: “We will not snipe. We will not seek to play political games. And when the prime minister puts this deal forward for a vote, Labour will vote for it.
“The protocol will never be perfect. It is a compromise. But I have always been clear that, if implemented correctly, it is an arrangement that can work in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.
“And that now it’s been agreed, we all have an obligation to make it work.”
Read more:
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What are the DUP’s seven tests?
Mr Sunak will meet the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs on Tuesday evening to try to persuade them to back the deal.
But first he made a statement on the deal to MPs in the House of Commons.
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There has been early support from Brexiteer and Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker, who told Sky News the framework “restores Northern Ireland’s place in the union”.
He added: “I think this is a win and I think it’s very important in politics to know when you’ve had a win-win solution for all sides – bank it and move forwards… this is a time to bank what is a radical improvement for the people of Northern Ireland.”
And a statement from this afternoon’s cabinet meeting readout showed further Brexit faithfuls giving their backing, with the deputy PM Dominic Raab saying the framework was “a remarkable accomplishment which would be a success story for the region” and home secretary Suella Braverman praising the Stormont brake.
Why was a new deal needed?
The deal follows frustrations around the Northern Ireland Protocol, which aimed to prevent creating a hard border on the island of Ireland – but effectively placed a border in the Irish Sea.
This was something former prime minister Boris Johnson promised would not happen when he signed off on the original deal with the EU.
The DUP has refused to form an executive at Stormont until the protocol is ditched, meaning the Assembly has not been functioning for months.
Some businesses have ceased trading due to the extra cost and bureaucracy created by goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK having to be checked over concerns they could end up going into the EU over the border in Ireland.
Mr Johnson introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to override that part of the Brexit deal but this caused tension with the EU, who said the move risked breaching an international treaty.
King Charles met Ursula von der Leyen after the press conference
The ex-prime minister told Sky News last week that continuing with the bill was the “best way forward”.
But the bill’s passage through parliament was paused by Mr Sunak and will now be dropped, in return for the EU dropping legal proceedings against the UK.
Ms Von der Leyen headed off to meet King Charles for tea at Windsor Castle after she and the PM announced the deal.
World
Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to ‘smoke out’ thousands of illegal miners
A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.
The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.
Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.
It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.
The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.
Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.
Relatives of miners and community members wait at the mine shaft. Pic: AP
A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.
It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
An aerial view of a mineshaft. Pic: AP
Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.
In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.
Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.
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Relatives of miners and community members wait near the mine shaft. Pic: AP
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The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.
Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.
Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.
World
Ukrainian frontline commander warns: ‘The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem’
In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.
We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.
The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.
They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.
War latest: Russia ready to carry out ‘massive attack’
The captain known by his men as ‘Genius’
In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk
Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.
Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.
He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.
His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.
Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’
Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.
We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.
“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.
He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.
Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.
Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.
“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
‘The world is scared of Russia’
It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.
The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest
Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.
A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.
“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”
The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts
Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.
Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.
If President-elect Donald Trump cuts the supply of military aid, the Ukrainians will lose – it’s that simple.
US President-elect Donald Trump has been clear he intends to change his nation’s policy on the war in Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.
“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”
Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.
He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.
“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.
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‘Losing will be not only our problem’
These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.
Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.
Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting
Tank traps in the Sumy region
Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.
“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.
But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.
“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”
Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.
A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.
The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain – the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar.
Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.
The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.
Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday – Spain’s highest of the day – most of which fell in six hours.
All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption.
Pic: Jamie Marchant
Emergency services in the province have moved 3,000 people from homes at risk of flooding close to the Guadalhorce River in the west of the city.
Jamie Marchant, 29, from Caerphilly in South Wales travelled to Malaga last Wednesday.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He told Sky News that “debris” had been left behind by the recent rainfall in the region.
“Everyone is pitching in to clean up and some shops are opening as usual,” he added.
Orange warnings for the Valencia region in eastern Spain expired earlier on Thursday.
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The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.
Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.
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