Rishi Sunak should be praised for trying to fix the mess left by Boris Johnson

Editorial: The prime minister is trying diligently to put right the flaws in the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland negotiated by his predecessor

A period of silence from the former PM would be welcome (UK parliament/AFP)

The prime minister deserves credit for having brought a constructive attitude to the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union over Northern Ireland.

In stark contrast to his predecessor Boris Johnson, who tried to negotiate by bluster and threats, Rishi Sunak’s calm pragmatism seems to have secured concessions from the EU that would have seemed unthinkable only a few months ago.

Mr Sunak’s ministerial team was in fact appointed by his immediate predecessor, Liz Truss. James Cleverly as foreign secretary took the lead in the talks with the EU, while Chris Heaton-Harris and Steve Baker took over at the Northern Ireland Office.

But Mr Sunak should be praised for driving the team towards a deal that is capable of being supported by all parties, including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

He has done so despite having his elbow jogged repeatedly by Mr Johnson, who suggested on Friday that, instead of reaching an agreement with the EU, the British government should press ahead with the bill that seeks to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol unilaterally.

Mr Johnson ought to know full well, having used the threat of breaking international law before, that the trick will not work this time. The legal basis for the UK government’s asserting its right to tear up a treaty is “necessity” – in other words, that there is no other way to avoid the serious consequences of failing to rewrite it.

It was a weak enough argument in the first place. The protocol may be flawed – thanks to Mr Johnson and Lord Frost, his chief negotiator, making such a hash of it – but the idea that leaving it as it is would produce civil disorder or other serious harm is a stretch. It is bad that Northern Ireland is deprived of its devolved government because the DUP refuses to allow the power-sharing institutions to function; but this is a political problem, not an intrinsic effect of the protocol itself.

In fact, most people and most businesses in Northern Ireland are happy with the protocol. There may be technical problems with the way it operates in practice, but generally it has given Northern Ireland the best of both worlds since 2021, allowing privileged access to the EU single market while remaining part of the UK market.

However, even if it is accepted that the political deadlock in Northern Ireland is the kind of emergency that would justify overriding international law, that argument would fall away if it could be shown that the EU were prepared to meet the DUP’s reasonable demands. Which is where we appear to be this weekend.

So, no, Mr Johnson, the bill that is currently stuck in the House of Lords is not “a very good bill”. It is untrue that “it fixes all the problems”. It is no good advising your supporters to “go with that one”. Those supporters were not advised, as you were when you were prime minister, that the bill was likely to “crumble when it hit reality”.

Reality is almost upon us, as is a moment of choice for the DUP. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and his party have to decide whether to do the difficult and responsible thing in the best interests of the people they represent, or whether they will just say “No”: a course that could well accelerate Northern Ireland’s drift towards a united Ireland.

Will the DUP accept the best possible deal for the kind of Brexit for which they voted – given that they rejected Theresa May’s compromise based on temporarily staying in the EU customs union? Or will they continue to demand a magical Brexit that keeps an open border on the island of Ireland while taking Northern Ireland out of all aspects of the EU market?

That is the question that faces the people of Northern Ireland today. A period of silence from the former prime minister who negotiated a bad deal in the first place would be welcome.