The British House of Commons has approved the new Northern Ireland Agreement by a large majority.
(Photo: dpa)
London The British Parliament approved important parts of the new Northern Ireland agreement with the EU on Wednesday. 515 MPs voted for the so-called “Windsor Framework” , 29 voted against. The House of Commons thus paved the way for the Northern Ireland trade deal agreed between Brussels and London.
However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to overcome resistance from within his own ranks. He was helped by the opposition Labor Party, which voted in favor of the agreement with the EU. Not only the eight representatives of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who had previously announced their rejection, voted against it.
Former Conservative Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss also rejected Sunak’s deal and, along with 19 other hard-line Brexit advocates from the ranks of the Tories, voted against the proposal of their own government. Johnson justified his rejection by saying that the province would continue to be “covered by the EU legal order”.
The so-called “Stormont Brake” was voted on, which gives the regional parliament of the same name in Belfast an emergency brake when introducing new EU rules in the Northern Irish province. While Sunak sells the mechanism in London as a “veto”, in Brussels there is only talk of an extended say for Parliament in Belfast. According to British Minister for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, the province is only affected by three percent of the EU rules.
Northern Ireland is still part of the EU internal market through the Brexit agreement and must follow EU law on trade issues. However, with future rules, 30 MEPs can slow down their introduction, which would set in motion a lengthy and complicated arbitration.
Unionists continue to reject the emergency brake
The Unionists, who are loyal to London, reject the “Stormont Brake” because it can only be used for future EU rules in Northern Ireland and not for existing ones. Leader Jeffrey Donaldson indicated his party would continue to block government formation in Belfast unless the rulebook is improved. Without a functioning regional parliament, the emergency brake could not be used.
The so-called “European Research Group”, in which the hard Brexit supporters of the Tory faction have gathered, spoke out on Wednesday against the new agreement. For Sunak, the acceptance of the project by the House of Commons is nevertheless an important domestic political victory over his Eurosceptic critics from his own ranks.
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