Sunak warned of Tory chaos over Northern Ireland protocol deal

theguardian.com:

Conservative Brexiters and the Democratic Unionist party would be unable to back a Northern Ireland deal that left any role for the European court of justice, a key backbencher has said, setting Rishi Sunak on an apparent collision course with his parliamentary party.

With ministers saying Sunak was “on the cusp of a deal” to change post-Brexit arrangements in the region, Mark Francois, who chairs the influential European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs, warned of chaos if the prime minister tried to push through an unsatisfactory plan.

He added that this would be “incredibly unwise” without a formal vote in the Commons, something to which the government has still refused to commit.

With a deal expected to be announced as early as Monday, Sunak has begun the process of trying to sell his plan, using an interview with the Sunday Times to pledge that any proposals would “tick all of those boxes” in terms of concern from the DUP, the biggest unionist party.

Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, said the government was “on the cusp of a deal” with the EU.

“There’s real progress,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme. “We want to make sure all the pieces are in place. But I think hopefully there will be good news in a matter of days, not weeks,” he said.

While refusing to go into details, Raab effectively confirmed reports that the vital issue of how to deal with goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK would have an “intelligence-based approach” intended to minimise checks, with most items processed via a light-touch “green light” system.

“Those are the kinds of things it’s been well known that we’ve been pushing for,” he said, adding that this would greatly reduce the oversight of