Rishi Sunak will hold face-to-face talks with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday as he looks to finalise a compromise deal to fix issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In a joint statement on Sunday from Downing Street and the commission, they confirmed the PM and president would meet in the UK to discuss the “complex challenges” in the Brexit treaty.
It comes amid growing expectation a deal could be announced imminently, with deputy PM Dominic Raab saying Mr Sunak was “on the cusp” of striking an agreement.
The joint statement said the pair had agreed to meet to work towards “shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges”, adding: “President von der Leyen will therefore meet with the prime minister in the UK tomorrow.”
It is not yet clear whether Mr Sunak will announce the details of a final agreement on Monday. The PM could strike the agreement within “days”, Mr Raab said earlier on Sunday.
The deputy prime minister also suggested No 10 was willing to do a deal with or without DUP approval. He told Channel 4’s The Andrew Neil Show there was “no de facto veto” for the unionist party – still expected to oppose the compromise with Brussels.
“There’s no de facto veto but of course we want to engage and persuade and convince and demonstrate, frankly, the changes are substantial enough,” said the deputy PM. “We’re confident enough in the substance of the change to feel front-footed about doing so.”
Mr Raab also appeared to confirm there will be a vote in parliament soon. “MPs will have a chance of expressing themselves,” he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “You have to carry parliament with you, and I’m confident we would be able to.”
It comes as Mr Sunak tries to head off a Tory revolt by the European Research Group and Boris Johnson allies against his Northern Ireland deal.
Hardline Brexiteers have warned that up to 100 Tory MPs could oppose the new trading arrangements in a potential vote amid warnings of a potential Tory “civil war”.
While the prime minister is understood to have convinced prominent pro-Brexit MPs of the merits of his deal, a rebellion of even 40 Tory MPs would leave him in the embarrassing position of relying on Labour get it through.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis told The Independent said his “instinct” was to support a deal – saying he expected a rebellion to be limited. “I think the idea of 100 rebels is absolute nonsense.”
“If he needs Labour support, it might be mildly embarrassing, but nothing more,” said Mr Davis. “But since the deal seems to be better than any his predecessors got, then who should be embarrassed?”
Mr Raab said there had been a “paradigm shift”, hinting that the deal with the EU addressed unionists’ concerns around Northern Ireland not having a say in Brussels’ rules on VAT and other areas, as well as easing trade checks.
A senior ERG told The Independent Mr Sunak had not reached out to the group over the weekend. Mark Francois, chairman of the ERG, told Sky News his group would still not back the deal unless EU law is completely “expunged” in Northern Ireland.
The hardliner said “less of a role” for the European Court of Justice – but one that upholds the court as the ultimate dispute arbiter – was not “good enough”, and insisted “we are not stupid”.
The top Brexiteer told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “If were advising the prime minister, my honest advice to him would be – don’t try to bounce parliament [into a vote] next week because that is likely to go badly wrong.”
It comes as Tory grandees attacked Boris Johnson attempt to push a unilateral alternative to the deal, and the former UK ambassador to the US condemned the former PM for saying “f*** the Americans!”
Allies of Mr Johnson have not disputed he made the remarks about the US in a heated exchange with his former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland. A source close to the former PM said it was “not language we would use”.
Writing for The Independent, Sir Peter Westmacott criticised Mr Johnson’s efforts to undermine Mr Sunak as “beyond the pale” – saying he making life more difficult for the current PM by “offending our closest ally”.
Sir Peter added: “It would help if [Mr Sunak]’s predecessor but one stopped making a difficult job impossible, and offending our closest ally and partner in the process, for reasons which appear to have little to do with the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.”
