Deal done. Boris Johnson has concluded a new Brexit deal that would put a regulatory border in the Irish Sea, limiting the scope of the backstop to Northern Ireland by allowing the rest of the United Kingdom far greater freedom to diverge from the European Union’s regulations than the UK-wide backstop would have done.
But the path to the deal passing is far from clear. It is guaranteed to get the votes of at least three of the four independents who voted for it last time – Stephen Lloyd, the Liberal Democrat currently sitting as an independent who promised voters in his Eastbourne constituency he would vote for a Brexit deal, Iain Austin, the former Labour MP who voted Remain and now backs Brexit, and Frank Field, the former Labour MP who voted to Leave. But it is not clear without looking at the detail of the agreement whether it will retain the support of Sylvia Hermon, the independent Unionist MP.
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