Andrew McQuillan

The Windsor knot – how long will Unionists wear the deal?

Ursula von der Leyen and Rishi Sunak meet to discuss the new deal (Credit: Getty images)

White smoke has emerged from Windsor. Now that a deal between the UK and EU over Northern Ireland has emerged, can the DUP endorse it? 

Early reports that the party were on board – and were planning on using a dinner in London this evening to begin rationalising this to their supporters – were dismissed by the DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson as ‘entirely fictional’. He reiterated the line that he and his party needed time to chew it over. 

The DUP themselves have said in their own response to today’s developments that there has been progress. The fact they have not gone for an outright no will please Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office greatly. 

While much of the focus in Westminster has been on the likes of Steve Baker describing it as a ‘win’ and the implications for the process of steering this deal through parliament, another man stood up to give his view on the Windsor Framework – and that voice will arguably carry more weight with the DUP.

Written by
Andrew McQuillan
Andrew McQuillan writes about politics and unionism across the UK. He is Scottish and has lived and studied in Belfast for several years.

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