Boris Johnson says he will find it difficult to vote for Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal

Boris Johnson has said he will find it “very difficult” to vote for Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

The former prime minister said the deal was “not about the UK taking back control”.

This is the first time he has commented since Mr Sunak revealed the Windsor Agreement on Monday.

The deal with the EU aims to fix Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade problems.

But Johnson said it was “a copy of the solution that was offered” to Liz Truss when she was his foreign secretary last year.

In a speech in Westminster, the former prime minister said: “This European Union is not bound kindly to do what we want in our country not by our laws but by theirs.

“I would have a very hard time voting for something like this myself, as I think we should have done something different.”

He added that the agreement would serve as a “pillar of traction on the difference” of the European Union.

“Brexit is nothing if we don’t do things differently in this country.”

Johnson has called for the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol bill, which the EU has said breaches international law, to be restored if the new deal does not succeed.

The bill was overturned by Mr Sunak, who told MPs his new agreement “puts beyond any doubt that we have now taken back control”.

MPs are expected to vote on Mr Sunak’s Windsor Framework in the coming weeks.

Johnson could decide to abstain from the vote, rather than actively vote against it.

He remains an influential force on the board of governors but it looks like a majority of the party’s MPs will vote on the New Deal.

The Labor Party also said they would support it, assuring it would become law.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – whose support is crucial to restoring a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland – has yet to pass its verdict on the deal.

The Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative MPs has appointed lawyers to study the text in detail before delivering their verdict.

Sunak has said earlier that the new deal is about “what’s best for people in Northern Ireland” rather than “personalities”.

He said the deal would “make a positive difference for everyone” in Northern Ireland.