DUP says new Brexit deal doesn’t address ‘fundamental problems’ with Northern Ireland Protocol
Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland doesn’t address the “fundamental problems” with the protocol it is intended to replace, the DUP has said.
The unionist party has released a fresh assessment of the Windsor Framework ahead of a crunch vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
While it is not an official verdict on whether they will back the agreement, the DUP’s statement said “there is more work to do” to tackle issues that led to the collapse of powersharing in Stormont.
A spokesperson for the DUP said: “The Windsor Framework does not deal with some of the fundamental problems at the heart of our current difficulties.
“The government has framed this debate on Wednesday as an overall endorsement of the framework.
“It is our current assessment that there remain key areas of concern which require further clarification, re-working and change as well as seeing further legal text.
“We will continue our engagement with the government and urge the prime minister to take the time to get this right rather than rushing through a deal that doesn’t address all the core issues.”
The DUP is currently blocking devolution at Stormont in protest at the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed by Boris Johnson under his “oven ready” Brexit deal.
Mr Johnson has already signalled he might not vote for the Windsor Framework in parliament, which could influence other Tory MPs.
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Johnson: ‘Difficult to vote for Brexit deal’
The Protocol was designed to prevent a hard border from being reintroduced on the island of Ireland but led to trade barriers being created between Great Britain and NI – effectively creating a customs border down the Irish sea.
The Windsor Framework struck by Rishi Sunak last month aims to address the key issues by removing red tape on goods and giving local politicians more of a say on EU rules that remain in the region.
Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to the Windsor Framwork last month
However, the DUP’s support is crucial for powersharing to be restored in Northern Ireland, which has been left without a functioning government for more than a year.
After weeks of scrutinising the deal, the party’s statement is not the only sign of discontent.
Deal ‘doesn’t cut the mustard’
On Monday senior DUP MP Ian Paisley said he will vote against the government in the vote this week and suggested his colleagues would follow suit.
He said the framework “did not cut the mustard” when it came to the seven tests the DUP say must be passed for them to back a deal and return to government.
“I am categorically voting against, and I would be surprised if my colleagues do not join me,” he told The News Letter.
“After taking time to study it and at least one legal opinion on it, and going through the details, and also having conversations and messages back and forward to the Secretary of State, I am still of that opinion – that it doesn’t address any of our seven tests.
“It is the old substance dressed up in a new package with a ribbon around it, but it hasn’t actually changed, or addressed the fundamental issue of Northern Ireland trade being disrupted in our internal UK market.”
Ian Paisley
The comments could spell trouble for Mr Sunak, with many Tory Eurosceptics waiting to see what the DUP says about the framework before deciding whether to back the government.
Wednesday’s vote will be on a statutory instrument to implement the Stormont brake – which Downing Street sees as the most “significant part” of the agreement.
The mechanism would allow a minority of MLAs at Stormont to formally flag concerns about the imposition of new EU laws in Northern Ireland – a move that could see the UK government veto their introduction in the region.
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Windsor Framework: What role will EU rules continue to play in NI?
Minister ‘confident vote will succeed’
The government has pitched the brake as a solution to the so-called “democratic deficit” Eurosceptics say has arisen as a result of NI being subject to Brussels’ rules so it can trade freely with the Republic of Ireland.
On Sunday, Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge: “I’m confident the vote will succeed and pass, and I hope we will do so with the support of the DUP but ultimately that is for them.”
Labour has also said it will vote in favour of the regulations on Wednesday.
Speaking after Mr Dowden, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: “I think it’s a step forward and we will support a step forward.
“Rishi Sunak is prepared to go and start cleaning up some of his own mess, we’re certainly not going to criticise him for that and there’s no question that this is something that is now urgent.
“It’s incredibly important and trying to remove some of that friction, some of those barriers on the island of Ireland, has long been our priority.”
Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.
According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.
Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.
He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.
“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”
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Aid drops continue over Gaza
It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.
Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.
Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of hostages in Tel Aviv. Pic: AP
Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.
In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
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After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.
The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.
Two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, have been released by Hamas, after US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week met with the families of the hostages.
The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back, and says he has not eaten for three days.
The distressing videos show him apparently digging his own grave.
He worked in a restaurant, according to a video posted by Labour Friends of Israel, before he was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.
Since then, he has been held in captivity in Gaza, and the videos suggest he is being kept in dark tunnels and surviving on scarce portions of lentils and beans.
Gaza itself is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of Israel’s blockade on aid to the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said.
Evyatar David before he was captured by Hamas. Pic: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
In the video, Evyatar David writes on a hand-made calendar on the wall of a tunnel
In the second video, released on Saturday, Mr David – according to the English subtitles – says: “I haven’t eaten for three days.”
The captions continue as he speaks while in an underground tunnel: “There’s no [sic] enough food. I barely get drinking water.”
The video shows him talking through what he ate in July, which has been recorded on a handmade calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.
Speaking while under captivity and under duress, he adds: “They give me what they can get.”
At the end of the video, he is digging a hole. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”
He then appears to break down, crouching on the floor and leaning his head on his arm while still clinging to the shovel.
A poster released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with photos of Evyatar David released in 2023, February this year and July
In a statement, his family said: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive.
“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition.”
They added: “Israel and the international community must oppose Hamas’s cruelty and ensure that our Evyatar immediately receives proper nutrition.
“The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.”
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
‘Famine’ looms in Gaza
On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a site where the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing food in Gaza.
Read more: ‘Little confidence’ US Gaza delegation would see full picture
The controversial GHF scheme has been widely condemned, including by the UK government, after fatal shootings ever since it was set up earlier this year.
According to the United Nations’ human rights office, at least 859 people have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF aid sites since late May.
The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) this week said a “worst-case scenario of famine” was sinking in across the besieged enclave.
It has also said more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition since April.
Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are concerned they are also starving, and blame Hamas.
On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said a further seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, including a child.
Rescue crews searching for five trapped Chilean miners have discovered a body.
A section of the copper mine had collapsed on Thursday following a strong, 4.2-magnitude tremor.
The remaining four miners are still missing – and rescuers are vowing to continue their search with “strength and hope”.
A man reacts during a vigil at an entrance to El Teniente mine complex. Pic: Reuters/Pablo Sanhueza
Andres Music, general manager of El Teniente mine, said: “This discovery fills us with sadness, but it also tells us that we are in the right place, that the strategy we followed led us to them.”
Crews are trying to drill through 90m (295ft) of rock to reach the trapped miners, but Mr Music said they had not yet made contact with the workers.
Just over a fifth of the blocked underground tunnels have been cleared, with teams hoping to get through about 15m to 20m (49ft to 66ft) every 24 hours using heavy machinery.
He said rescue efforts would continue with increased caution, which could slow progress.
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Two people are now known to have died as a result of the collapse.
Another miner, Paulo Marin Tapia, was found dead on Thursday shortly after the incident.
Codelco, which owns the mine, said the identity of the second man is yet to be confirmed.
Nine other miners were injured.
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