515 votes in favor, 29 against: the result of the vote this Wednesday in the House of Commons is clearly in favor of the agreement reached at the end of February between London and the European Union on future trade rules in Northern Ireland.

Despite opposition from Boris Johnson and Lizz Truss, the last two heads of government before him, as well as Northern Irish DUP loyalists, Rishi Sunak easily won the vote, thanks in particular to support from the opposition, Labor and the liberal democrats. .

However, British political observers point out that 22 Tories rebels voted against the Windsor framework and that 48 others did not move. Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary majority is 67 members in the House of Commons.

Stormont brake, key point of the Windsor frame

The deputies voted this Wednesday the most symbolic measure of the Windsor framework, called storm brake , named after the building that houses the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Rishi Sunak’s government has indicated that this will be the only vote MPs will have on the new deal with Northern Ireland.

This provision is supposed to allow members of the province to block the application of new trade rules voted by the European Union and likely to apply in Northern Ireland thereafter.

The agreement concluded on February 27, 2023 ratified above all the principle of greatly reducing customs controls for products that come from Great Britain and are destined to remain in Northern Ireland. a system of green path without control and with little paperwork would then refer to these products, while a red lane would refer to goods that could reach Ireland.