DUP will not be ‘blackmailed or cajoled’ over Northern Ireland Brexit deal

The revamped agreement struck with Brussels on post-Brexit rules in Northern Ireland must be viewed with “extreme caution” in the face of “the usual spin and propaganda”, according to senior members of the party.

They also criticised the involvement of the King in the finalising of the so-called ‘Windsor Framework’, aimed at restoring powersharing in Stormont, branding it “deeply regrettable” and counterproductive.

Their hard-hitting comments in Parliament came in response to Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen reaching a deal to replace the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Prime Minister is looking to secure the backing of the DUP for the revised pact in a bid to ensure the return of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.

The breakthrough agreement coincided with the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Organ and Tissue Donation) Bill going through the Lords.

This legislation would further delay the requirement for the formation of an executive at Stormont until January 18, 2024 and delay an assembly election to April 11, 2024 at the latest.

Attempts to restore powersharing have so far failed because of a boycott by the DUP in protest at the protocol, which created trade barriers in the Irish Sea.

The Bill also included a provision to ensure opt-out organ donation reform in Northern Ireland, given the political impasse at Stormont.

Known as “Daithi’s Law”, it follows a campaign by six-year-old Belfast boy Daithi Mac Gabhann, who is waiting for a new heart, and his family.

While praise was heaped on the youngster by peers, the response was more cool among unionist politicians to the deal reached at Windsor.

DUP peer Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown argued the involvement of the monarch was “a cynical act”.

He said: “The DUP will not be blackmailed or cajoled by anyone into accepting any deal that is not in the best interests of Northern Ireland and does not fulfil the seven tests set out by our party.”

He added: “There cannot be a restoration of the assembly at Stormont until the unionist community is satisfied that there is integrity in this deal.

“We are certainly not going to allow any politician to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Northern Ireland.”

Former DUP deputy leader Lord Dodds said: “In the coming hours and days, we will see the usual spin and propaganda from many people concerning the proposals.

“Obviously, we need to take our time to study exactly what is being said. Very often when we get the legislative detail, we find that it is very different from what is portrayed, what is spun and what is the subject of much commentary.”

He also argued it was “deeply regrettable” that the Government had “brought the monarchy into this matter”, adding: “I think it is deeply counterproductive and not helpful.”

Lord Dodds went on: “Whatever concessions from the EU, whatever improvements on the original protocol, unionists will judge any deal on sovereignty and democracy. Are our rights, as His Majesty’s subjects, equal to those of our fellow citizens in the rest of the United Kingdom? If the answer is no, we must not give up in our rightful quest and desire to have those rights fully restored.”

Fellow DUP peer Lord Browne of Belmont said: “Anyone who cherishes our historic union must view any new deal with extreme caution.”

But former SDLP leader Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick said: “I hope that the political parties will allow this document… to be investigated in depth, but I also hope that we can get on with our lives, economically, politically and socially.”

Former Alliance Party leader and Stormont Assembly speaker Lord Alderdice said: “I desperately hope we can move forward, and quickly.”

Labour frontbencher and former Northern Ireland Secretary Lord Murphy of Torfaen said: “I just hope that in the space, which I understand the Prime Minister is suggesting should be made available for everybody to look at the detail of this agreement, all of us should look at it very seriously and when we do think not of ourselves but of the people of Northern Ireland.”

Responding, Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Caine said: “The hope of all of us is that the agreement that has been reached in Windsor will provide a basis for the restoration of the devolved institutions.”

The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Organ and Tissue Donation) Bill later cleared the Lords and is poised to become law.