The most important question at Prime Minister’s Questions came from DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who brought the Chamber to silence as he demanded certain assurances from Rishi Sunak about the negotiations between the UK and EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Sunak has spent the past few days holed up in meetings with the most hardline of his MPs to try to find out what their concerns are ahead of an agreement potentially being reached. It was significant that his answer to Donaldson contained one of the issues that has been raised repeatedly in those meetings.
Donaldson asked him whether he accepted: ‘How important the constitutional and democratic issues are in relation to getting a solution and will he agree with me that it is unacceptable that EU laws are imposed on Northern Ireland with no democratic scrutiny or consent?’
Sunak responded by praising Donaldson and saying he knew he was sincere in his commitment to restoring power-sharing at Stormont, adding:
‘I can assure him that I agree: addressing the democratic deficit is an essential part of the negotiations that remain ongoing with the European Union.
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