Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sunak and Von der Leyen to meet as Brexit deal nears

Rishi Sunak (Credit: Getty images)

A new deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol is imminent. Today, Rishi Sunak will meet with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as the Prime Minister prepares to announce changes to the Protocol. In a joint statement between the two sides yesterday, a meeting has been confirmed:

Today, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. President von der Leyen will therefore meet with the Prime Minister in the UK tomorrow.

While No. 10 still insists that nothing has been finalised, the increasing sense among government aides and senior ministers is that a deal is close to being announced as early as today. If things go to plan, Sunak will address the House of Commons as well as taking part in a joint press conference with von der Leyen.

Last week, Sunak delayed plans to announce a deal as he grappled with kickback from the DUP and European Research Group. But as I said on Friday’s Coffee House Shots podcast, it was wrong to mistake this for Sunak backing off from an agreement entirely. Instead, the sense in government has been that this is an issue that cannot be kicked into the long grass.

Does Sunak have the authority to push his plan through – or will it leave him badly wounded?

It’s not just that Sunak could have looked weak to go some way up the hill only to march back down. It’s that the Prime Minister views fixing the protocol as key to strengthening the Union, getting Brexit (truly) done and making progress on issues that involve EU co-operation such as small boats and security.

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