Katya Adler
Europe editor

Brussels seems relaxed about the prime minister wanting to give MPs and the communities of Northern Ireland time to read and digest the details of the amended Northern Ireland deal.

The additions and text tweaks need to be approved by all EU leaders. This means their respective national parliaments all get a say too.

“A say but not a veto!” a key EU figure told me emphatically. “There are no quibbles, EU side. We think this is deal that works for us and the UK for now and the long-term.”

And the timeframe to get the deal approved? Ideally before the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in April.

Rishi Sunak hopes Joe Biden will come over to mark the occasion. He has often expressed personal interest in Northern Ireland and safeguarding the peace process.

EU diplomats describe the US president as “very helpful” in putting pressure on the UK to get the revised Northern Ireland deal agreed - in the hope the power-sharing government would then be up and running again in time for the big anniversary.

Shane Harrison
BBC NI Dublin correspondent

Image source, Dáil Éireann

In Dublin, politicians in the Dáil (lower house of the Irish Parliament) have been discussing the newest Brexit deal too.

The Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, has accused the DUP of using the protocol as a pretext for blocking devolution and the Good Friday Agreement institutions.

She says there is no justification for the party to continue its "reckless and damaging boycott of democracy".

The onus is now on the DUP to make politics work, she adds.

Image source, Dáil Éireann

McDonald also calls on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the government to offer clarifications where necessary.

In response, the taoiseach agrees and says support will be offered in the coming days.

He describes the Windsor Framework as a "good agreement for Europe and the UK" which will put joint relations on solid footing.

The deal is good for Northern Ireland too, Varadkar adds, as it will benefits from membership of both the UK's internal market, and the European single market.

Image source, PA Media

Here's PM Rishi Sunak's car leaving the hotel in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, where he's met various Stormont leaders this afternoon.

He'll be making his way back to London now, where he's due to meet the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs in Westminster.

We'll bring you more on that meeting, due to take place around 17:00 GMT, when we have it.

Marita Moloney
Live reporter

Let's take a step back for a minute and recap who the main political parties are in Northern Ireland, and how many people they each have in Stormont.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is made up of 90 representatives, known as Members of the Legislative Assembly or MLAs. MLAs must identify themselves as 'Unionist', 'Nationalist' or 'Other'.

Assembly elections were held in May 2022, and this is how many seats each party currently holds:

• Sinn Féin (nationalist) - 27 seats
• Democratic Unionist Party (unionist) - 25 seats
• Alliance Party (other) - 17 seats
• Ulster Unionist Party (unionist) - nine seats
• Social Democratic and Labour Party (nationalist) - eight seats
• Traditional Unionist Voice (unionist) and People Before Profit Alliance (other) each have one MLA elected to the Assembly, the Green Party (other) currently have none, and two independents unionist MLAs make up the 90 seats

You can read a full breakdown of the results, here.

Image source, Getty Images/ Charles McQuillan

And now to Jim Allister, who quit the DUP in 2007 and now leads the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) - he is the only member of his party elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He has dismissed the UK's new deal with the EU as a "triumph of spin over substance".

Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland remains "wholly within a foreign Single Market for goods, subject to the vast plethora of EU laws that control it", he says.

A barrister and a former MEP, he also criticised "the much vaunted Stormont brake" saying it applies only to future changes in applicable EU law, not the existing EU laws which would remain in force.

Image source, PA Media

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has been speaking about his conversation with the PM too.

He's suggested any political party that says it will take weeks or months to formulate a response to the Windsor Framework was being "disingenuous" - a week should be enough, he said.

Beattie said his party will work hard to scrutinise the proposed system - and also said there was no reason why power-sharing institutions could not be operating at Stormont while all parties study the detail of the deal.

Image source, PA Media

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has been speaking about her meeting with Sunak earlier.

She says the Windsor Framework was the deal that should have been signed in 2019, had the UK been better led at the time.

She said Sunak's plan was a major step forward, but also expressed concerns over the Stormont brake - given it "remains unclear in terms of how it will function, at what level the trigger will be set".

"The one thing we do not want to do is to inject more instability into the institutions at Stormont", she told reporters.

Emma Owen
BBC News

Hello and good afternoon. This morning's team are taking a well-earned break now, and I'm here with fresh eyes to keep you posted on developments throughout the afternoon and evening.

As you probably know, Rishi Sunak is in Belfast, meeting with leaders from the various political parties, and we await their reaction to his deal. Remember, of course, that there's often a difference between what some politicians say in a personal capacity, and what the party agrees on as a whole.

Later on, at around 5pm, he'll be back in Westminster to address the 1922 Committee - the group of backbench Tory MPs he generally needs to keep on side. Of course, Labour have already said they'll back the deal.

Stick with us as we guide you though developments - I'm here in London with Marita Moloney, Sam Hancock, Laura Gozzi, Thomas Mackintosh, Adam Durbin and Jessica Lawrence in Belfast.

We'll also be hearing from our political correspondents in Westminster, Belfast and Brussels.

Image source, PA Media

While Rishi Sunak is in Belfast holding meetings with Northern Ireland's various political parties, Sinn Féin's Vice President Michelle O'Neill has tweeted to say the pair have spoken. But not in person.

"I have spoken with Rishi Sunak by telephone," she writes on Twitter, external, adding that she welcomes yesterday's "breakthrough" and accepts the "deal is now done".

"The priority must now be getting Stormont up and moving without delay," O'Neill adds.

We're hearing that Sunak spoke to Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Part (DUP) by phone, rather than in person, from the County Antrim hotel where he's currently holding meetings. We're not sure why, but we'll let you know if we find out.

Image source, Getty Images

We've been hearing from former Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, one of the leading figures in the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum on EU membership.

She tells BBC News that the EU law remaining in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework is "perfectly reasonable".

"Northern Ireland businesses do want to have access to the EU single market and so it is that business that will be subject to EU rules, as of course it should be, that's perfectly reasonable," she says.

"The reality is Northern Ireland will be an integral and precious part of the UK, which is a free and sovereign independent nation, but it will also have access to the EU single market."

She says businesses in Great Britain seeking to access the EU single market should "invest in Northern Ireland".

Image source, Hillmount Garden Centre

Alan Mercer owns a chain of garden centres across Belfast, Cheshire, Bangor in North Wales and Newtownards in County Down.

He told Radio 5 Live he feels "optimistic" about prime minister Rishi Sunak’s new deal after a "frustrating" few years operating after Brexit.

“We have seen the likes of minimum orders from our suppliers in England really be increased from £500 up to £1,500,” he said, “order on a Monday and you might get it two weeks, three weeks later".

Alan thinks the new post-Brexit deal, including the green lane for goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, will be a “game changer” for his business.

“Our hope is if this is a step forward, if it makes business easier for us, if it makes doing business in Northern Ireland, why would you not get behind it?

"I see it as a no-brainer. It couldn't be any worse.”

Enda McClafferty
Northern Ireland political editor

Image source, PA Media

We are now officially on DUP watch - waiting for Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to deliver his party's verdict on the Windsor Framework.

The Democratic Unionist Party is faced with two lanes and must decide which one to take.

The lane back to Stormont requires the DUP to say yes to the Windsor Framework, to say yes to what Rishi Sunak says removes the Irish Sea border, gives the assembly new veto powers over EU law, removes checks on pets and plants moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and means the UK takes back control for setting VAT and tax breaks in Northern Ireland.

But the DUP would also be saying yes to the European Court of Justice retaining its jurisdiction over Northern Ireland.

The prize of saying yes to all of the above would see power-sharing restored in Stormont.

But saying yes to the deal could come at a cost for the DUP.

Critics of the framework - including some DUP MPs - have already dismissed it.

They argue paperwork would still be required for goods travelling through the new green lane, the Irish Sea border has been diluted but not ditched, and they have also dismissed the so-called Stormont Brake.

You can read more on the risks and rewards saying yes or no to the deal carries for the DUP here.

If you just want to know the basics of the Windsor Framework here's a very short video explaining how the deal will work.

For more details on areas such as travelling with pets and sending parcels, read our at-a-glance guide here.

Hope in Brussels that agreement marks a more positive chapterpublished at 13:00 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2023

13:00 GMT 28 February 2023

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

Is Brexit now, finally, done?

No, not really - on two obvious fronts.

Brexit meant a new relationship between the UK and the EU which will evolve over time.

The hope in Brussels is that, following yesterday’s agreement, a new and more positive chapter is now being opened after the bitterness of recent years.

But, it is still a relationship in motion rather than one that has fallen into a settled pattern.

The government may however argue they are now in the process of putting the last and thorniest outstanding issue, from the original divorce deal, to bed.

Yet even there, some British officials quietly admit there may be a case to make changes to the “Windsor Framework” in future.

There are provisions, both in the old treaty and new legal text, which mean this pact is a set of living, breathing documents that could still produce political flash points in future.

Image source, Getty Images

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is continuing his visit to Northern Ireland by holding meetings with Stormont's biggest political parties.

The meetings are being held at a County Antrim hotel as the PM seeks support for his new agreement with the EU, aimed at reducing post-Brexit trade problems in Northern Ireland.

As Rishi Sunak's efforts to sell his new plan to people in Northern Ireland and politicians in Westminster continue, it's probably a good idea to emphasise the Windsor Framework is by no means a done deal.

So what happens with the agreement now it has been revealed?

Well, the short answer is - we'll have to wait until the plan makes its way through the UK Parliament, with MPs expected to be given a say on the deal.

The exact details of the timings of any debate and votes in Westminster are not known as yet, but many expect the process to begin early next week - with the government likely to be keen to get the longstanding thorn of the Northern Ireland Protocol pulled as soon as possible.

What we can say for sure is, following the prime minister's trip to Northern Ireland this morning, Sunak will travel back to London and sell his deal to backbench Tory MPs at the influential 1922 Committee at around 17:00 GMT.

After that meeting, the Eurosceptic grouping of Conservatives, the European Research Group, will then meet at around 18:00 to discuss their own response to the proposed deal with the EU.

Image source, Fleming Agri-Products

“I am happy to see that the British government and the EU have come to an agreement that they can actually move forward" said business owner George Fleming of Fleming Agri-Products.

The manufacturing firm is based in Newbuildings, County Londonderry and supplies agricultural equipment across the British Isles.

Fleming told BBC Radio Foyle that he is cautious that not everyone may be on board with the Windsor Framework.

“I am sure there will be issues for some companies but it is for the Northern Ireland government to get back together and sort those issues out for those companies, and not be standing on the outside looking in.”

Earlier we heard Prime Minister Rishi Sunak talking to workers in a Northern Ireland Coca-Cola factory about the new EU Brexit deal.

Sunak said he'd like to see the elected politicians, known as MLAs, back at Stormont because he has "corrected" any issues they had with the previous Northern Ireland Protocol.

Michel Barnier, the European Commission's Brexit chief negotiator from 2016 to 2019, has tweeted his approval of the agreement.

He also couldn't resist making a dig at the former UK governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson, who he dealt with while in post - which he says played a "zero-sum game".

Katya Adler
Europe editor

The EU is now in watch and wait mode. EU diplomats tell me they hope the public mood in the UK - particularly in Northern Ireland - is more positive, and that that might help persuade more reluctant politicians.

Paris, Berlin and Brussels don’t want to be seen as interfering in a UK domestic debate.

Yesterday’s joint unveiling was carefully choreographed. But if the revised deal is eventually rejected, mood music from the EU - which believes it has made a considerable number of compromises - may darken pretty quickly.

Re-opening negotiations would be tough, Ireland’s PM Leo Varadkar has warned.

Should the UK government return to its earlier threat of acting unilaterally, a trade war with the Brussels - the UK’s biggest trade partner - could loom large again.