Windsor Framework: Times writers give their verdicts on Sunak’s deal

Suddenly, there’s hope, just a glimmer. We had all but forgotten that grown-up compromise might be the solution to political differences.

Rishi Sunak has so far been a disappointing prime minister but if he pulls off this Brexit breakthrough on Northern Ireland, he will be more than a caretaker for a government limping to the end of its days. He will have given his party back some dignity and made them look more credible, constructive and competent after an atrocious 2022 in which it mislaid two prime ministers.

When Sunak first suggested his deal, few believed he could pull it off. Naively, having been an MP for only seven years, he didn’t seem to realise he had to square his recalcitrant backbenchers first. But he