Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tory unrest over King Charles’s role on the Protocol

(Credit: Getty images)

An agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol has been reached. That’s according to a senior government source after Rishi Sunak and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met at Windsor. The pair are due to give a press conference in the next hour to confirm the news.

The mood music today has largely been positive for Sunak. A number of senior Brexiteers have suggested they are encouraged by the briefings they have received and there are reports the DUP could back the deal. Government minister Steve Baker – a former chair of the European Research Group – has also given a strong indication he will not resign as some reported, praising the work Sunak has done.

Rees-Mogg said it is ‘constitutionally unwise’ for the government to involve the King

However, there is one aspect of today’s announcement that is attracting criticism: the involvement of the King. During her Windsor visit, von der Leyen will meet separately with the King. When news first broke on Friday of plans for von der Leyen to have an audience with the King, DUP politicians and members of the European Research Group were quick to see red – with many expecting Downing Street to abandon such plans. Government sources suggest the meeting was agreed at the request of von der Leyen rather than suggested by Sunak. However, that suggests it was viewed as a request that if granted would please the Commission president ahead of signing a deal.

On hearing the news that the meeting will go ahead, former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said it is ‘constitutionally unwise’ for the government to involve the King in its Brexit deal. Nadine Dorries, a key ally of Boris Johnson, has also suggested that No. 10 ought not to have made such an arrangement. The optics of von der Leyen meeting the King on the same day a deal is struck could well be read as an endorsement of the deal.

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