The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has “yet to come to terms with the significance” of the vote in support of the new Brexit deal, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said.
His comment comes a day after MPs voted by 515 to 29 to support the Windsor Framework deal agreed by Rishi Sunak.
The DUP voted against it, saying the UK government had to make changes to it.
Speaking on Thursday, Mr Heaton-Harris said the deal was “done” and would soon become international law.
“There is no renegotiating of that deal,” he said.
“We are now going to put our best efforts into making that deal work – that’s both us and the European Union.”
The joint UK-EU body that is overseeing Brexit will meet on Friday to ratify the legal changes brought about by the Windsor Framework.
But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was “not a quitter” and would not give up in his campaign for an improved deal.
He said the vote in Parliament on Wednesday did not represent the feelings of Northern Ireland unionists.
The DUP has blocked the functioning of the power-sharing government at Stormont for more than a year in protest against trade rules that were set for Northern Ireland in the original Brexit deal agreed by Boris Johnson.
The aim of the Windsor Framework was to alter those rules and reduce checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
But the DUP has said the new deal done between the UK prime minister and the EU is not sufficient for it to agree to reinstate its ministers at Stormont.
Speaking after meeting Mr Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle, Sir Jeffrey said he would work with the government to get the deal changed.
“I’m not a quitter – I’ve never given up in terms of seeking to achieve what we need to achieve,” he said.
“There is in the Windsor Framework an element of the sticking plaster and it won’t work.
“It will not deliver the long-term stability and prosperity that Northern Ireland needs.”
Mr Heaton-Harris met the five main Stormont parties at Hillsborough to discuss the new Brexit deal as well as Northern Ireland’s public finances, which he said were “definitely not in a good state”.
He said he would have to set Northern Ireland’s budget for the coming year within the next few weeks if the executive was not up and running soon.
“There are going to be some tough decisions,” he said.
How have the other parties reacted?
Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill said the DUP had to “stop their boycott” of Stormont so that executive ministers could take control of the budget.
Ministers had to be in post to make the case to the Treasury for extra funding for Northern Ireland, Ms O’Neill added.
“This budget is about to cause catastrophic damage to public services,” she said.
“So the DUP need to get around the table with the rest of us, make politics work.”
Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry said Northern Ireland was “bleeding at present”, with problems piling up and public services in real crisis.
He said his party had asked the UK government to consider providing a financial package and it appeared “the door is open to that”.
“This will require the parties in Northern Ireland to work together and to make a very persuasive case… to the Treasury,” he said.
“So it reinforces the impetus on the DUP to join the rest of us in ensuring we have proper governance here.”
Ulster Unionist assembly member Robbie Butler said the level of budget cuts “on that cliff edge at the moment actually is quite alarming”.
He urged the DUP to accept the “difficulties” with the Windsor Framework and “put the people of Northern Ireland first”.
Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP had to accept that it could not get everything it wanted from the new Brexit deal.
“We have a huge opportunity with this [deal] to trade into both [UK and EU] markets unencumbered,” said the Foyle MP.
“People in Britain would give their right arm to have that opportunity.”
Source – BBC News
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