Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has denied claims that King Charles was being drawn into Brexit politics after he met with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen at Windsor Castle. Mr. Cleverly stated that the government had “facilitated” the audience with the King during the EU chief’s visit to the UK to finalise trade agreements. He also clarified that it was not unusual for the King to meet senior international figures while they were in the UK, citing an earlier meeting with the Ukrainian President. The meeting between the King and Ms. von der Leyen sparked outrage among Eurosceptic politicians, but all sides in the negotiations denied organizing the meeting, leading to mystery.
However, Tory Brexiteers and some leading figures within the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) criticized the meeting, insisting that it was dragging the King into a controversial political issue. Former DUP leader Arlene Foster said she “could not quite believe that No10 would ask the King to become involved in the finalizing of a deal as controversial as this one.” In a bid to deflect the growing criticism, a government source insisted the meeting was at the behest of the EU commission. Brussels, however, immediately balked at this suggestion and insisted: “It was not a request and we were not expecting it.”
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak signed a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, dubbed the Windsor Framework. The new deal removes barriers on trade across the Irish Sea and hands a ‘veto’ to politicians in Stormont on EU law. However, it still includes a role for the European Court of Justice, with the DUP and Tory backbenchers now set to study closely the details of the complex set of arrangements in the coming days. MPs are expected to get a vote on the deal, but Downing Street has not so far said when or how such a vote might take place.
»James Cleverly denies claims that King Charles is being drawn into Brexit politics«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯