Why the DUP rebellion on the Brexit bill is simply bluster

Jeffrey Donaldson and his colleagues have nothing to lose from their opposition to Rishi Sunak’s protocol replacement, says Sean O’Grady

Jeffrey Donaldson explaining his stance at Stormont on Monday (PA)

The Democratic Unionist Party has said it will vote against part of the government’s revised Brexit deal as it affects Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework, agreed last month by Rishi Sunak and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, was designed to fix the problems created by the original Northern Ireland protocol (which was negotiated and signed off by Boris Johnson) and persuade the DUP to rejoin the power-sharing Northern Ireland executive. The first vote on the Windsor Framework will be held in the Commons on Wednesday.

Why is the DUP doing this?

The short answer is because Sunak’s deal doesn’t meet the party’s “seven tests”, which are that any agreement should: