Rishi Sunak preparing to announce new Brexit deal in days as Cabinet on standby
RISHI Sunak is preparing to announce a new Brexit deal in days as the Cabinet were told to be on standby this weekend.
The PM’s top team have been told to be ready for a phonecall to give a green light to his new agreement to try and fix the hated Northern Ireland protocol.
Today No10 insisted talks were still ongoing and expected to carry on over the weekend.
But MPs have been told they must be in the Commons on Monday in preparation for any deal being revealed to MPs.
Downing Street have not yet said whether there will be a Commons vote on any agreement.
Mr Sunak is due to hold another call with EU boss Ursula Von Der Leyen in the coming days before the deal is announced.
But there are still huge fears any agreement may not get the support of the Democratic Unionist Party – who have been pressing the PM to rip up the whole deal.
The current agreement – signed by Boris Johnson when he was PM – effectively cuts off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, and they are instead bound by some EU trade rules.
Ministers have been working to fix trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK – which unionists are furious over.
The PM is still pushing through with plans for the Northern Ireland Protocol bill – which would override the entire thing – in a bid to keep the EU negotiating.
Last night BoJo refused to say whether he would back Rishi’s deal when it comes back to the Commons.
And he said last weekend dropping the Protocol bill would be a “mistake” and that it would fix all of the problems.
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Mr Sunak’s new plan is expected to see a huge chunk of checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland scrapped.
Northern Ireland politicians will be given a day on the laws affecting their area for the first time too.
But it’s likely that there will be a role for the European Court of Justice – something fiercly opposed by unionists and Brexiteers.