A deal to resolve post-Brexit trading issues in Northern Ireland is not likely this week, a minister has suggested.
Maria Caulfield told Sky News Rishi Sunak is “working really hard” to fix problems with the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, amid signs of a possible Tory rebellion.
Asked about the prospect of a breakthrough this week she said: “I don’t know about this week, I know that the prime minister is working really hard and working with a number of politicians from across Northern Ireland, politicians within the EU, to try and resolve this.”
Politics live: Rishi Sunak meeting with cabinet as talks on NI deal continue
Later on Times Radio, she urged colleagues to give the prime minister the “time and space” to “thrash out” a deal.
“There isn’t a deal done yet so all these rumours about ministers or MPs not being happy, I haven’t seen the details, we have to give the prime minister that time and space to get these negotiations done,” she said.
“We need to give him the time and space to thrash out the final elements of any final deal.”
Maria Caulfield MP says a Brexit deal over Northern Ireland is unlikely this week
The comments came as prominent Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg compared Mr Sunak’s approach to that followed by his doomed predecessor Theresa May.
He said it was “very similar to what happened” with the former prime minister, where a policy would be presented in the hope that people would “conveniently fall in behind” it.
“Life doesn’t work like that. It’s important to get support for it first before you finalise the details and that doesn’t seem to have been done here,” he said on his ConservativeHome podcast.
Mr Sunak is understood to be discussing ways to reduce red tape on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the UK, as well as some sort of compromise on the so-called “democratic deficit” caused by NI still being subject to some EU rules in order to trade freely with the Republic of Ireland.
Mr Rees-Mogg suggested the PM should press ahead with the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, effectively ripping up parts of the agreement with Brussels, rather than seeking a deal which may not guarantee the return of a power-sharing executive in Stormont.
The former cabinet minister said: “There seems to me to be no point in agreeing a deal that does not restore power-sharing.
“That must be the objective. If it doesn’t achieve that objective, I don’t understand why the government is spending political capital on something that won’t ultimately succeed.”
He said the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (NIPB) had the support of “the person who had a mandate from the British voters” – Boris Johnson – and he questioned Mr Sunak’s handling of the situation.
“I don’t know why so much political capital has been spent on something without getting the DUP and the ERG (European Research Group of Conservative MPs) on side first,” he said.
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Do we need a new Northern Ireland protocol?
Mr Johnson has called on the government to press on with the legislation enabling it to override parts of the protocol without the EU’s permission, and some have interpreted words from Home Secretary Suella Braverman as support for the former prime minister’s position.
She described the bill as “one of the biggest tools that we have in solving the problem on the Irish Sea”.
The NIPB, dubbed by the EU as “illegal and unrealistic”, was introduced by Mr Johnson but paused by Mr Sunak while he tries to resolve issues with the protocol.
The mechanism that was put in place after Brexit to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, which all sides agreed was necessary to preserve peace.
But unionists are unhappy with the trade barriers the protocol has created on goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and believe the arrangement is threatening NI’s place in the union.
There is also anger over the role played by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to oversee trade rules – which the DUP and some Conservative MPs see as an erosion of the UK’s sovereignty and incompatible with the aims of Brexit.
Read more:
What is the Northern Ireland Protocol and why does it matter?
What is the Brexit deal being discussed between UK and EU?
Mr Sunak will hold a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday amid growing anticipation that the UK and the EU could be on the verge of agreeing on a new deal.
But the PM is facing up to a potential battle with members of his own party as he seeks to satisfy the demands of both Conservative MPs and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who have warned the breakup of the UK “is at stake”.
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DUP MP Sammy Wilson says the breakup of the union is ‘at stake’
As pressure builds on the PM, the Times newspaper reported that some ministers could be prepared to resign if Mr Sunak’s solution to the protocol risks the place of Northern Ireland within the UK.
Number 10 has remained tight-lipped about what is being discussed with Brussels, but a source said that central to Mr Sunak’s focus was safeguarding Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
Sky News understands Mr Sunak met with key Brexiteers on Monday, ahead of talks between members of the European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs tonight.
A source from the ERG told political editor Beth Rigby that Downing Street “has over-briefed” on the prospect of an agreement.
The government insisted yesterday that a final deal had not been struck and said “you will hear our position should a deal be agreed”.
Mr Sunak has not committed to putting the deal to a vote in parliament – but Labour has urged him to, saying they will back his deal to help it get over the line if he comes up against a Tory rebellion.
There are hopes that a fresh settlement on post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland will be able to secure the return of powersharing at the Stormont Assembly, after the DUP walked out in protest at the protocol last February.