Rishi Sunak could be endangering his position as Prime Minister if he compromises too much with the European Union (EU) over Northern Ireland, a new exclusive poll has revealed. The Techne UK survey of 1,624 voters this week revealed that 53 percent back the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland in opposing a compromise solution which would separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
The results have come in a week which ended with a dramatic set of talks between the Prime Minister and Northern Irish parties in a five star hotel just north of Belfast as he took control of the protocol talks from his Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Less than a third (32 percent) of those polled supported a compromise with the EU while 15 percent are “don’t know”.
The survey showed that even a majority of 2016 Remain voters (51 percent) do not want a compromise solution which undermines Northern Ireland’s place in the UK just behind the 58 percent of Leave voters.
Notably, half of 2019 Lib Dem voters, Britain’s most pro-EU party, do not back a compromise and only a third (33 percent) support one.
In a further warning to Mr. Sunak’s personal position, among 2019 Conservative voters 61 percent do not back a compromise and only a quarter (26 percent) would back it.
Labor supporters are slightly in favor of a compromise deal by 45 percent to 43 percent.
Details of a deal could be coming as soon as Tuesday next week despite and there are fears that Mr. Sunak’s government could capitulate to EU demands.
In a briefing to the EU 27 member state ambassadors in Brussels, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said that the deal “would be within the existing protocol”, according to Irish broadcaster RTE.
This means that the DUP and their supporters are unlikely to accept the agreement and the Stormont Assembly will not be able to reconvene to restart the devolved government in Northern Ireland.
Former Europe minister Baroness Hoey, who supports the DUP and is a Brexiteer, warned that this would mean “the collapse of the Good Friday Agreement” in its 25th anniversary and she warned that US President Joe Biden better abandon his plans to visit for the anniversary .
The prospect of a deal is also being watched closely by Tory MPs who have yet to decide whether to support a return by Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
READ MORE: Biden warned to stay away as Hoey warns Good Friday Agreement in peril
The European Research Group (ERG) of Tory Brexiteer MPs has made it clear that it will back the DUP and oppose any compromise which does not restore sovereignty to Northern Ireland.
At the moment there are concerns that if the protocol is fully implemented a hard border will mean food and medical supplies from the rest of the UK will have to cross a hard border.
Speculation is mounting over the way Mr Sunak has “taken control” of the process from hsi Foreign Secretary James Cleverly who met with Sefcovic yesterday.
A former minister told Express.co.uk: “It could be that Sunak knows this is too important to leave to somebody else and that his survival as Prime Minister depends on the outcome.
“If he is clever he will allow the talks to fail and then blame the EU but I fear he will try to push forward some sort of compromise which would be disastrous for his own prospects.”
Boris Johnson is understood to be planning a major intervention on the issue after already positioning himself as an alternative Prime Minister with trips to COP27 on climate change, Davos on economic policy, Ukraine and the US.
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The polling shows that a majority of every age and socio-economic group opposes a compromise deal.
With the Conservatives still 21 points behind in the polls resolving the issue in the wrong way seems unlikely to be a means of starting the comeback needed to win next year’s election.
A Tory backbencher noted: “At some point he [Mr Sunak] has to prove he has the backbone to do what is right. Colleagues are talking, people are plotting.
“That’s not just on Northern Ireland but also taxes and matching his words on migration with action.”
