Nigel Farage has issued a gloomy prediction for the future of Northern Ireland after Rishi Sunak struck a post-Brexit trading deal with the EU.
The Prime Minister is under pressure to satisfy unionists with a trade deal that cements Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.
Not doing so risks a backbench backlash from Tory MPs, who are keen to see the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) end their Stormont boycott, which they enforced in protest at the current trading arrangements between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
GB News presenter Nigel Farage claims “fatigue” and a lack of people “caring” about the ramifications for Northern Ireland paints a desperate outlook for the UK.
The ex-Brexit Party MEP told Bev Turner: “The idea we have a veto over EU law is for the birds.
“We will find as we go through the legal documents in the next few days that some of the claims that Rishi has made are exaggerated.
“But no one is going to care because we’ve reached this point, everyone is happy, it’s better than it was and we’ve moved on, there will be no Tory rebellion.
Nigel Farage says Rishi Sunak's deal spells bad news for Northern Ireland
Image: GB News
“Ireland will be stuck inside a system where it still has to accept EU rules.
“We’ll have a Labour Government in 18 months time that won’t just accept EU rules for Northern Ireland, it’ll be accepted for the whole United Kingdom.
“That initial acceptance of the Barnier premise is actually endangering our ability to genuinely break free.”
The DUP, which brought down the Northern Ireland executive over the measures, is considering its response to the new Windsor Framework deal.
The framework removes the Northern Ireland Protocol’s barriers on trade across the Irish Sea and hands a “veto” to politicians in Stormont on EU law – a set of concessions from Brussels that went further than some expected.
Rishi Sunak struck a deal with Ursula von der Leyen on the future of Northern Ireland trade
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But it still includes a role for the European Court of Justice, with the DUP and Tory backbenchers set to study the details of the complex set of arrangements in the coming days.
Some Eurosceptic MPs have issued their response to the agreement, including Steve Baker, who claims Rishi Sunak has “pulled a blinder”.
He told GB News: “He’s delivered a deal which restores Northern Ireland’s place in the union on a wide range of areas and restores free trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK market.
Steve Baker feels Rishi Sunak has secured a major achievement with his deal
Image: GB News
“It’s a triumphant achievement.”
Farage is less optimistic, however, saying most people “don’t understand the Northern Ireland Protocol”, which means Rishi Sunak will “get away” with the deal.
He said: “The absolute truth is, most people in the mainland of the UK, don’t understand the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“They’re much more concerned about immigration levels, the cost of living, what their children are being taught at school and stuff like that.
“What I’m saying is, just as Brexit fatigue led to Boris Johnson selling us an ‘oven-ready’ deal that was blooming awful, Rishi Sunak will get away with this.”
