Labour offers help to Rishi Sunak in pushing through any EU / UK deal so he is less beholden to staunch anti-Protocol MPs

Steve Reed was speaking on Friday as Rishi Sunak visited the Province to prepare the way for a possible UK/EU deal on the Protocol.

The details of any deal have yet to be revealed, though the rumours which have so far circulated – indicating that it rests mainly on a relaxation to checks on goods at Northern Irish ports – suggest the DUP will not back it.

Mr Reed’s comments are important because it will make Mr Sunak feel more confident of pushing through a deal which does not satisfy the anti-Protocol MPs on his backbenches.

There are some 355 Tory MPs in the Commons, and 196 Labour ones.

The remaining 99 are mainly SNP, LibDem and Independents.

If Mr Sunak agreed a deal that was too weak in the eyes of staunch anti-Protocol MPs, he could face a rebellion from within his own ranks, spurred on by the DUP and its eight MPs.

Having Labour support would mean he may feel less pressure to placate the harder-line anti-Protocol faction.

Mr Reed told reporters today: “We’ll wait and see what the Government is coming forward with. It’s very important for everybody in the United Kingdom that this problem is resolved. It’s a problem that is of this Government’s own making, of course.”

He added: “Labour wants this problem fixed, so we are prepared to give Rishi Sunak the additional votes he needs to get this through Parliament and it’s important that the Prime Minister works with the Labour Party rather than listen to the extremists in his own ranks who do not want to resolve this problem that has caused a division inside our United Kingdom.”