Donaldson goes on, saying he agrees with Sunak about the importance of sovereignty in Northern Ireland.

This was undermined with the Northern Ireland Protocol, he tells the Commons, asking the PM to assure him and the DUP that his government won't ever allow the EU to intervene in Northern Ireland's place in the UK again.

Sunak responds by saying he believes the Windsor Framework deals with all the issues he's been made aware of. But, he says, it's important for Donaldson and the entire unionist community to go away and consider the text of the deal.

He says he hopes political parties, and Northern Irish people, can now "move forward".

Image source, UK Parliament

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, is speaking now. His position on the framework is crucially important and could define the political reception it receives in the coming days and weeks.

He says his party has been "vindicated" on the protocol after it campaigned hard to have it overhauled.

The new deal secures "significant progress" in some respects but key areas of concern remain, he says, especially in terms of EU law continuing to apply to some sectors in Northern Ireland.

Donaldson says the DUP will study the deal and engage with government for the time being, effectively reserving his ultimate judgement.

But he calls on the PM to guarantee the UK Government will act to stop EU law harming trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country in the future.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

Sir Keir Starmer’s confirmation that Labour will stick by its pledge and back the Windsor Framework means it will pass a vote of the Commons.

That doesn’t mean that Rishi Sunak doesn’t need to win over his own backbenchers though.

Passing it on Labour votes would cause him serious political problems in his own party - one Tory MP suggested to me recently it could even amount to “political suicide” for the PM.

And, if he doesn’t get the DUP on board, then the Northern Irish government wouldn’t be restored.

Sunak responds to Flynn by declaring: "I'm a passionate unionist" and "we will fight day in, day out for that".

Flynn says the deal does not create "parity" for every nation of the UK.

He tells MPs that businesses in Northern Ireland have access to the EU's single market but those in Scotland do not.

"The only way for Scotland to have access to the single market... to have access to the customs union... to re-join the EU, is to rid itself of Westminster," he tells the PM.

Flynn also says he finds it "astonishing" that Starmer and Sunak are "hand in glove" when it comes to their positions on Brexit.

Image source, UK Parliament

Next up to speak is the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who criticises Sunak for appearing to distance himself and his party from all the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

He reminds Sunak that he was in the government that went ahead with the last deal.

On the new deal, he says "broadly speaking" he's "fully supportive" of it, because it:

• safeguards peace in Northern Ireland
• seeks to protect the Good Friday Agreement
• provides a pathway back to democratic institutions in Stormont sitting again

But he says while "all that is good", it shouldn't be forgotten that Brexit was "an unmitigated disaster".

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

So far several MPs have given a cautious, or even reasonably warm, reception to what’s been announced.

The Democratic Unionist Party though says it won’t be rushed.

Some Conservative MPs have said they want to see more of the detail too before making up their minds

Sunak's statement in Parliament is the first chance they’re getting to put some of their questions to Rishi Sunak.

The questions they ask are likely to give a wider picture of how it’s going down.

Image source, UK Parliament

Theresa May is on her feet now. She congratulates the government on the agreement, saying it will "make a huge difference".

The former PM calls on the entire House of Commons to support it, apparently a plea to Eurosceptics in her own party and the DUP.

Sunak pays tribute to her work over the years on Brexit and agrees that MPs should get behind the agreement.

Sunak says he welcomes the substance of what Starmer has said.

But he adds that now is not the time to look back, but to look forward. Balance has been restored, he says, and he looks forward to a brighter future for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Starmer says the deal is "not perfect" and there will "inevitably be trade-offs".

But he says Labour will support the deal because he recognises the UK has an obligation to make it work.

He ends by saying he hopes others will join the Labour Party in supporting the Windsor Framework.

Starmer turns to Sunak's predecessor, saying Boris Johnson once told the people of Ireland that his version of the protocol would mean "no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind...".

That was "utter nonsense," Starmer tells Sunak, with members of the Labour Party beginning to loudly ask "where is he?" about the former prime minister.

Starmer says all this contributed to the current in situation in Northern Ireland - where parliament is not sitting - and asks why Sunak failed to mention Johnson's mistakes in his speech.

He goes on to urge Sunak to be "utterly unlike" Johnson.

Image source, UK Parliament

Sir Keir says "we all have an obligation" to make the deal work.

He says the red and green lanes proposal is a good one and has the Labour Party's full support.

The deal will mean no more "endless disputes" with neighbours, Starmer says, and will improve the UK's international standing.

Starmer says previous Conservative governments have damaged that during previous twists and turns in the Brexit negotiations.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is up now.

He says the Good Friday Agreement is one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour government - but it belongs to the people of Northern Ireland.

Starmer says the Windsor Framework is in the national interest and Labour will support it.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has now finished speaking and Labour leader Keir Starmer is responding.

Here's a bit of what Sunak had to say - including that the deal safeguards sovereignty and preserves the balance of the Good Friday Agreement.

Sunak describes the Windsor Framework as a "new and better option" than the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which has now been scrapped,.

Today's agreement makes binding legal changes to the treaty itself, Sunak says, before adding that it's "explicitly based in international law".

He says this new framework delivers certainty and security for Northern Ireland almost immediately, etching out a "new way forward".

The PM also confirms that any legal action taken by the UK and EU, against one another, to do with the bill has been scrapped.

The PM says he has "protected the letter and spirit" of the Good Friday Agreement in the deal.

He stresses again the back-up of the "Stormont brake" and says the deal "fully restores" Northern Ireland's position in the UK's internal market.

There are "two distinct economies on the island of Ireland", he tells the Commons, "and that will remain the case".

Sunak now speaks directly to unionists, saying today marks a turning point for people in Northern Ireland.

He adds that he has kept unionists' frustrations and concerns at the forefront of his mind in the negotiations.

The PM says his goal has been to protect the economic rights of people in Northern Ireland, placing them on an equal footing with the rest of the UK.

Sunak says the Stormont Brake was introduced by "fundamentally rewriting the treaty".

He says it ends the "automatic ratchet of EU laws" and "leaves beyond all doubt we have taken back control".

Image source, UK Parliament

Sunak says the Windsor Framework "safeguards sovereignty" for the people of Northern Ireland.

The protocol meant the EU could, essentially, impose laws on the people of Northern Ireland, without them having a say, the PM says.

Today's agreement "scraps 1,700 pages of EU law", Sunak goes on, to some cheers from behind him. The amount of EU law that applies to Northern Ireland now amounts to no more than 3%, he says, acknowledging that this is not 0%.

But to address this, the Windsor Framework introduces the Stormont Brake, Sunak explains, saying Northern Ireland will now have the power to attempt to block EU laws if it deems doing so necessary.

The new deal means pet owners from Northern Ireland will have "completely free access" to travel to the rest of the UK with their pets, the PM says.

For people travelling in the other direction, animal owners will need to make sure their pet is microchipped but paperwork will be reduced to ticking a single box when booking a holiday.

Restrictions on "quintessentially British products" being imported will also be removed by the agreement, the PM says.

The movement of shrubs, plants, trees and seed potatoes will all be freed up, he says.