London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 19, 2025

MPs back Rishi Sunak's new Brexit Northern Ireland deal

MPs back Rishi Sunak's new Brexit Northern Ireland deal

Rishi Sunak's new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland has been passed by MPs, despite a rebellion from 22 of his backbenchers.

Ex-PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were among Tories joining Northern Ireland's DUP in voting against the agreement.

But it passed by 515 to 29 overall, with the backing of other Tories, Labour and the SNP.

The deal, unveiled last month, rewrites the Brexit accord agreed by Mr Johnson in 2019.

Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker denounced the two former PMs for opposing it, saying he thought "they're both better than this".

Mr Johnson risks "looking like a pound shop Nigel Farage" by voting against the deal, added Mr Baker, who supported the UK's EU exit in 2016.

Former Brexit leader Nigel Farage fired back on Twitter, saying Mr Baker had betrayed his Brexiteer credentials and was a "weasel" for supporting the deal.

Mark Francois, the chair of the ERG group of Eurosceptic Tories, confirmed earlier its "strong recommendation" was for Tory MPs to defy orders from party managers and reject the deal.

As well as Mr Johnson and Ms Truss, Tory MPs voting against the deal included former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Priti Patel, who was home secretary under Mr Johnson, also voted against, writing in the Telegraph before the vote that Mr Sunak should "negotiate a better deal".

The vote is on a key part of the deal, known as the Stormont brake, that would give a future Northern Ireland Assembly a way to challenge new EU goods legislation.

The vote is likely to be the only vote MPs get on Mr Sunak's renegotiated deal, known as the Windsor Framework.

Around 100 MPs didn't take part in the vote. This number will include those who abstained, along with those who did not vote for another reason or were given permission not to.

The original Brexit withdrawal deal negotiated by Mr Johnson introduced a series of checks on goods sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, in order to avoid a border with the Irish Republic.

Despite originally billing the agreement as a "great deal for our country," Mr Johnson went on to join Tory Brexiters in bemoaning the economic impact of the checks it introduced.

The changes negotiated by Mr Sunak aim to streamline the checks process, which have also proved highly unpopular among unionists in Northern Ireland.


Speaking in the Commons, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the Stormont brake would give assembly members in Northern Ireland "robust" powers to challenge EU laws.

But in a statement issued before the vote, Mr Johnson said it was "unacceptable".

"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 U.K. was unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit," he added.

He said it would be better to proceed with controversial legislation giving British ministers the power to override the original deal, which Mr Sunak has shelved due to his new agreement.

Ms Truss is also said to believe the new framework "fatally impinges" on the UK's ability to diverge from EU rules.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he will continue to work with the government on "outstanding issues" - even though Downing Street said there are no plans for any substantial change to the deal.

The European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs has criticised the Stormont brake, with legal experts advising them it was "practically useless".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
×