Cleverly to meet Stormont party leaders after mini-deal on Brexit raises fresh powersharing hopes
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is to travel to Belfast after a mini-deal struck on Brexit talks raised fresh hopes for the restoration of powersharing.
But as ministers try to secure an agreement on two fronts they will warn Northern Irish politicians that voters want “leadership” and them “back at work”.
The Democratic Unionist Party collapsed the Stormont government in February in protest at the post-Brexit trading arrangements Boris Johnson struck with Brussels.
The party warns that the Northern Ireland protocol undermines the integrity of the United Kingdom, by putting a barrier down the Irish Sea.
And it has made clear it will not return to government without radical changes to the arrangements.
In Belfast Mr Cleverly said the current arrangements must be addressed as they “undermine” the UK.
But amid fresh optimism of a new deal with the EU, the NI Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris warned that “accountable political leadership” was fundamental to secure a sustainable future for all.
He added: “I am firmly of the belief too that what people in Northern Ireland want most is to see their elected politicians back at work.”
Earlier this week a deal between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing was hailed as a partial breakthrough in ongoing talks to find a solution to the row.
As well as Stormont party leaders, the ministers will meet business groups as part of an effort to understand the impact the protocol has had on trade.
Mr Cleverly said: “My preference is for a negotiated solution, but the UK’s priority is protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and preserving political stability in Northern Ireland.
“I am listening to the concerns of people and businesses in Northern Ireland and am keenly aware that the current situation isn’t working.
“We need to address those issues with the protocol that risk and undermine the place of NI in the UK.”
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the protocol “was not, is not and will not be supported by unionists”.
He added: “Whilst some may be focused on short-term fixes, that will not work for the people of Northern Ireland.
“The restoration of devolved government is only made sustainable when the protocol is replaced by arrangements that restore Northern Ireland’s constitutional and economic place within the United Kingdom.”
Later this week party leaders are also due to hold separate talks with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
