The PM had faced speculation about a major party rebellion and senior resignations over his decision to pause the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
They said: “Do we want to die in a ditch about specifics around the Protocol and the European Court of Justice, which our constituents don’t care about, or do we want to get on with tackling something like the small boats issue, which they do?”
The Protocol Bill is understood to have been paused by the PM in order to allow for a new deal to be reached, in the hope it will not be needed. Critics of the Bill say it breaches the UK’s international obligations and risks further inflaming tensions with the EU. But Mr Johnson and his allies have spoken out against the move, suggesting it would be a mistake to sacrifice the bill in exchange for an agreement which critics said could threaten UK sovereignty over Northern Ireland.
The European Research Group of Tory MPs have been critical of the plans. A senior member said there were “concerns” over the potential deal but until the text was published it was difficult to know how to respond. A source close to the Prime Minister said: “We are focused on continuing intensive negotiations to secure a deal. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of a potential deal.”
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