'It Was Time To Act As Adults' How Sunak Charmed The Eu Team And Got Deal Done

During the final talks on the new post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland in Windsor on Monday, Rishi Sunak briefly halted proceedings to present Stéphanie Riso, a key member of Ursula von der Leyen's negotiating team, with a small birthday gift.

- Pippa Crerar & Jessica Elgot

The top official, who is moving to a senior European Commission role after six years living and breathing Brexit, was said by those present to have been visibly moved that the prime minister had known, and then chosen to mark the moment. It was the sort of gesture that came to be expected by the likes of Bill Clinton or Tony Blair in their heyday and suggests a clever personal touch not often associated with Sunak during the protracted negotiations to recast the deeply problematic protocol.

At the press conference shortly after, Sunak and Von der Leyen announced the breakthrough that proved elusive to Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. A journalist from the Daily Express stood up and asked what had changed.

Von der Leyen was clear: "There was a very constructive attitude from the very beginning, to solve problems, to find solutions." That approach began almost as soon as Sunak took over at No 10, with a meeting with the European Commission chief at the Cop summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.