UK UK Parliament gives overwhelming support to 'Windsor Agreement'

The British Parliament gave overwhelming support (515 votes in favor and 29 against) to the Windsor Agreement with the European Union

UK UK Parliament gives overwhelming support to 'Windsor Agreement'

The British Parliament gave overwhelming support (515 votes in favor and 29 against) to the Windsor Agreement with the European Union. The House of Commons voted specifically on the so-called Stormont Brake, which would empower the Northern Ireland local Assembly to block the imposition of new community laws within its territory.

The result was interpreted as a tacit approval of the agreement signed by Rishi Sunak, which won the support not only of the vast majority of his party, but also of the opposition Labor Party. Only several hard-wing Tory MPs and members of the Democratic Unionite Party (DUP) voted against.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in advance his intention to vote against the "Windsor Agreement", considering that Northern Ireland "will continue to be captured within the legal order of the EU". Former Premier Liz Truss also anticipated that she would vote against it.

Wednesday's vote is in any case a symbolic victory for Rishi Sunak over the latest outbreaks of insurrection within his party with tacid support for the Windsor Agreement. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly have in fact announced his intention to travel to Brussels on Friday to sign the agreement.

Meanwhile, Johnson has criticized Sunak's text as "unacceptable" and has asked the prime minister to opt instead for promoting the Protocol Law, currently in process, with which the United Kingdom aspired to unilaterally rewrite the most controversial point of Brexit.

The former head of the British Government decided to align himself with the extreme wing of the party, the so-called European Research Group (ERG), and stand up to Sunak, in a possible sign of the relaunch of his political career, if he were finally exonerated by the committee that investigates Partygate and that he will have to decide whether or not he lied to Parliament.

"Johnson has the choice of being remembered as a statesman or ending up as a Nigel Farage-style fringe politician," said Steve Baker, former leader of the ERG faction, who has nonetheless decided to support Sunak as well than dozens of hard "brexiteros".

Johnson made common cause with the DUP, which also voted against the Windsor Agreement as it continues to leave Northern Ireland a "no man's land", in the words of MP Ian Paisley Jr., son of the legendary union leader.

"This agreement is nothing more than the same package of the Ireland Protocol with little tweaks here and there and polished as if it were something else," stressed Ian Paisley Jr.. "They say they are going to create 'green lanes' for products from Great Britain to go to Northern Ireland, but the truth is that many goods will continue to be subject to customs controls, and that is inadmissible.The Stormont Brake is also a useless mechanism, because the last arbitrator in case of dispute is the Court of EU Justice, and we are against that as well."

Despite his last-minute turn, Ian Paisley Jr. regretted "the betrayal of Boris Johnson" and his decision to have turned Ulster into "the Brexit punching ball" with the agreement signed when he was prime minister. "There was another previous betrayal, which was by Theresa May," Paisley recalled. "The Conservative governments have left Northern Ireland in lockdown, with the result we are seeing."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project