DUP refuses to return to power-sharing as party prepares to vote against Stormont Brake

The DUP has ruled out a return to powersharing at Stormont as 'fundamental problems' still remain with issues around post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tweeted to say that there is still no 'sustainable basis' for going back into an executive as the party prepares to vote against a key part of the recently agreed Windsor Framework.

MPs will vote later on Wednesday on one key element of the agreement between the UK government and the European Union - the Stormont Brake.

The Government says it will give a functioning Stormont executive a veto or opportunity to raise an objection to EU rules being applied in Northern Ireland.

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have also said they will vote against Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal, further increasing speculation that a backbench rebellion could be possible.

Former Business Secretary and ERG member, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said the prime minister's Windsor Framework could "make the situation worse" than the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: "I will be voting against because I think the problem with the framework is it solidifies the protocol which has problems in it."

Mr Rees-Mogg said there is a "real problem" with the green lane, which is that "if Northern Ireland ever uses the (Stormont) brake not to apply an EU law, the EU can at its discretion close down the green lane."

Mr Johnson previously voiced concerns about the deal brokered with Brussels and confirmed he will not be backing it when MPs vote on the Stormont brake in the Commons later on Wednesday.

In a statement, he said: “The proposed arrangements would mean either that Northern Ireland remained captured by the EU legal order – and was increasingly divergent from the rest of the UK – or they would mean that the whole of the UK was unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit.

“That is not acceptable. I will be voting against the proposed arrangements today.

“Instead, the best course of action is to proceed with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, and make sure that we take back control.”

Ms Truss is also set to follow suit, with a source close to the former prime minister saying the Windsor Framework does not "satisfactorily resolve the issues thrown up by" the Northern Ireland Protocol and it "almost fatally impinges" on the UK's ability to diverge from EU rules and regulations.

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker has been pleading with Eurosceptic MPs to back the deal.

Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday morning, he urged Boris Johnson not to "become a pound shop Nigel Farage" in voting against the Framework.

Labour has already said it will back the agreement signed last month, so the government should win the Commons division comfortably, although the extent of the criticism from some hardline Tory Brexiteers is still unclear.

The DUP has said its eight MPs will vote against the regulation to implement the Stormont brake as it continues to seek changes to the overall framework.

The confirmation by Mr Johnson of his opposition to the UK-EU deal comes ahead of his appearance before the Privileges Committee, where he will be grilled by MPs investigating claims he knowingly misled Parliament over the “partygate” affair.

The former prime minister, who agreed the original Northern Ireland Protocol with Brussels as a way to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, had earlier this month indicated that he would find it “very difficult” to support the Windsor agreement.

It remains to be seen how large a rebellion Mr Sunak will face, when the secondary legislation on the Stormont brake comes before MPs.

On Tuesday the European Research Group (ERG) said the brake, which is intended to provide a veto on the imposition of new EU regulations in Northern Ireland, was “practically useless” following an analysis of the framework by its “star chamber” of lawyers.

Eurosceptic members have not yet decided how to vote, with the group set to meet later on Wednesday.

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