RISHI Sunak is facing a rebellion from Tory hardliners over his Northern Ireland Brexit deal after they labelled a key element of it “practically useless”.
The European Research Group (ERG) refused to say if it would back the Stormont brake after analysis by a so-called “star chamber” of lawyers concluded that EU law would still be “supreme” in Northern Ireland.
Conservative backbencher and ERG chairman Mark Francois declined to say how members will vote in the Commons on Wednesday, saying that the group will meet first thing tomorrow again to discuss the matter.
The verdict indicates it is likely they may join with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in voting against the Stormont brake.
However, with Labour already saying it will vote for the deal, the opposition will not be enough to defeat the government.
In a statement, ERG chairman Mark Francois said: “The star chamber’s principal findings are: That EU law will still be supreme in Northern Ireland; the rights of its people under the 1800 Act of Union are not restored; the green lane is not really a green lane at all; the Stormont brake is practically useless and the framework itself has no exit, other than through a highly complex legal process.”
The Stormont brake is a mechanism in the Windsor Framework which gives the Northern Ireland assembly the power to object to changes to EU rules that apply in Northern Ireland.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson has said the Windsor Framework does not go far enough to address the democratic deficit created by the impact of European regulation on Northern Ireland laws.
“These European regulations will become Northern Ireland laws, they will have an impact on businesses on people in Northern Ireland, and our ability to trade freely with the rest of the United Kingdom, which of course is our biggest market,” Wilson said on Good Morning Ulster.
He added that elected representatives from Northern Ireland should not be beholden to EU law.
“Regardless of what part of the community you come from, they expect their own elected representatives to be the ones who make the laws and then be held accountable for the laws.
“And the fact of the matter is even with the Windsor framework, EU laws will still apply in Northern Ireland and the opportunities to change those laws are totally removed from elected representatives in Northern Ireland.”
Commenting on the DUP’s position on the Stormont brake, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: “I don’t really understand what the DUP were expecting was going to happen. They can have their position on this if they want, but the deal is done, it is absolutely clear.
“They’re going to find that tomorrow when the British Government vote this through anyway, the deal is done. There is no more negotiating to be done.
“What people really want to know, not how the DUP are going to vote tomorrow, but when they’re going to nominate a deputy first minister and get back into government.”
He added that the SDLP have not decided their position for Wednesday’s vote: “We’ll either vote for it or abstain, we’ll make that decision today.”
