Sunak’s deal is a win for Northern Irish Unionists

Knowing when to accept victory is a key political skill. But it is not a universally held one among leadership cadres.

The Palestinian people, for instance, have in the past been led by men who have turned down hugely advantageous deals offering major concessions. Once rejected on grounds of not amounting to absolutely everything desired, those concessions never appear again.

Were the Democratic Unionist Party to accept Rishi Sunak’s ‘Windsor Framework’ agreement with the EU, the party would widely be regarded to have played a blinder once the dust had settled. Having correctly called the bluff of establishment forces who foisted the original Northern Ireland Protocol upon them and led a steadfast Unionist and loyalist resistance to it, they would be seen as having achieved huge improvements and concessions.

If the proposed new arrangements are not quite ‘Unionist purist’ then neither is the Belfast Agreement, signed 25 years ago and institutionalising an approach according rights and respect to both political and religious traditions in Northern Ireland.