British Prime Minister Rish Sunak, who is set to scrap his predecessor Boris Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) Bill as part of his new deal with Brussels, could face a revolt involving pro-Brexit Tories, according to a UK media outlet.
The report comes as Sunak told a British newspaper that his government was "giving it everything" to secure a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, which he said has yet to be clinched between the UK and the EU.
"There's unfinished business on Brexit and I want to get the job done," the prime minister stressed, amid UK media reports that Sunak is poised to announce the NIP deal as soon as Monday.
He also told the newspaper that he would try to resolve the concerns of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is worried about the EU retaining influence over Northern Ireland.
Sunak's Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar, for his part, said that "Certainly the deal isn't done yet," but that he thinks they are "inching towards a conclusion."
"There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed […]. There's still a gap to be closed," Varadkar said, referring to the ongoing engagement between the UK government and European Commission.
Downing Street sources have, meanwhile, declined to confirm whether a deal would be announced in the coming days, but stressed that the talks were continuing and that any discussion of timings was "purely speculative."
New NI Protocol Bill
London and Brussels wrapped up the Brexit transition in January 2021, when a trade and cooperation agreement between the parties came into effect. Under the terms of the deal, the UK left the single market and the EU customs union. Northern Ireland also left the EU as part of the UK, but remained in the European single market and customs unions.
Under the NIP, all goods and animal-based products coming from the rest of the UK must be checked upon arrival in Northern Ireland to ensure their compatibility with EU sanitary regulations.
In June 2022, the UK government introduced a bill unilaterally revising the provisions of the NIP and arguing that the deal is not working, as it causes delays and interruptions to goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland.
The bill stipulates the establishment of a "green channel" for goods transported from the UK to Northern Ireland, as well as the change in the tax rules, stripping the European Court of its role as the sole arbiter of disputes. This infuriated the EU, prompting Brussels to take legal action against London.