Inside the secret talks that broke Brexit deadlock on Northern Ireland

When Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the Brexit deal that reset Britain’s broken relationship with the EU on Monday, it was the culmination of almost four months of diplomacy that began on the shores of the Red Sea and ended in the shadow of Windsor Castle.

Von der Leyen, European Commission president, called the UK prime minister “Dear Rishi” as the pair launched the “Windsor framework”, the agreement which aims…