DUP will not be bullied into arrangements that damage Northern Ireland's place in the UK, says Jeffrey Donaldson

Writing in the News Letter, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (click here to read the full article), says that Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal with the EU – which sought to modify the Northern Ireland Protocol, which created a trade barrier with Great Britain – is "significant progress" but "does not go far enough toward restoring Northern Ireland’s place in the UK "internal market".

Commenting on the day before the framework comes in tomorrow, Sir Jeffrey says that unionism "will not be bullied or cajoled into accepting arrangements that entrench irreparable damage" to the UK.

But he cites a possible pathway to Stormont if NI's position within the nation is "protected in ... UK law".

Also writing in the News Letter today, the NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris appears to paint a rosier picture of government-DUP relations. He says: “We have engaged with the DUP extensively over the summer. It is already the case that honest feedback and proposals put forward by the party have put us in a better place on the green lane than we otherwise would have been.”

Mr Heaton-Harris outlines respects in which he says the framework has greatly lessened barriers to goods that would have existed under the protocol but accepts that there are ongoing concerns about the restrictions: “I know that some people remain concerned about how the framework will work in practice. I have always been clear that the government will listen to those concerns and there is scope to address them.”

Sir Jeffrey criticises a recent essay in this newspaper by Lords Godson and Lord Bew, that sparked unionist debate when it urged unionists to return to Stormont under revised arrangements that he says are the product of DUP strategy.