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Image source, PA Media
The Windsor Framework has "an element of the sticking plaster" to it, says Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he "is not a quitter" and will not give up trying to achieve an improved Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
His comments come a day after MPs voted by 515 to 29 to support the Windsor Framework deal agreed by Rishi Sunak.
The DUP voted against it, saying the UK government had to make changes to it.
On Thursday Sir Jeffrey said the vote in Parliament did not represent the feelings of Northern Ireland unionists.
Speaking after meeting Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle, the DUP leader said he would work with the government to "achieve what we need to get in terms of change" to the deal.
"I'm not a quitter - I've never given up in terms of seeking to achieve what we need to achieve," he said.
"There is in the Windsor Framework an element of the sticking plaster and it won't work.
"It will not deliver the long-term stability and prosperity that Northern Ireland needs."
'Damage to public services'
Mr Heaton-Harris is meeting the five main Stormont parties at Hillsborough to discuss the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill said the Brexit deal "is now done - that matter is settled" and the DUP had to "stop their boycott".
She said that was all the more pressing because a Stormont budget for the coming year was about to be agreed by Mr Heaton-Harris without ministers in place.
Image source, PA Media
Image caption,Michelle O'Neill - pictured with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald - says the DUP must "stop their boycott" of Stormont
Ministers had to be in post to make the case to the Treasury for extra funding for Northern Ireland, Ms O'Neill added.
"This budget is about to cause catastrophic damage to public services," she said.
"So the DUP need to get around the table with the rest of us, make politics work."
Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry said Northern Ireland was "bleeding at present", with problems "piling up" and public services in "real crisis"
He said his party had asked the UK government to consider providing a financial package and it appeared that "the door is open to that".
"This will require the parties in Northern Ireland to work together and to make a very persuasive case... to the Treasury," he said.
"So it reinforces the impetus on the DUP to join the rest of us in ensuring we have proper governance here."
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