Watch: Raab confirms the DUP has no Protocol ‘veto’

It’s Groundhog Day in Westminster. A week ago, many were braced for the grand unveiling of the new, improved Northern Ireland Protocol – only for it, er, to be shelved at the last moment. The key actors of various Brexit-related factions have been out all over the airwaves in recent days. And Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group, has seized on comments made by James Cleverly on Friday to Times Radio:

When, hopefully, we get those issues resolved, then I would hope that the DUP would recognise that we’ve addressed their concerns, and until we have addressed those concerns, we’re not going to sign off on the deal.

In response Francois told Sky News today that:

The Foreign Secretary said on Friday that the government would not sign off on any Protocol deal without the DUP’s backing so that’s James Cleverly saying that. And I think that’s just a practical reality because if the DUP don’t consent to the deal then it is simply not going to fly and that’s been absolutely obvious right from the word go.