Rishi Sunak and von der Leyen discuss Horizon Europe

Britain has already been betrayed by the EU over Rishi Sunak’s much-vaunted Windsor Framework agreement on Northern Ireland after Brussels pulled back on one of the key guarantees given to the Prime Minister, Brexiteers have warned.

It has emerged that a pledge by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the UK could rejoin the EU’s £82billion Horizon Europe science cooperation programme is already in trouble.

The UK Government has been forced to deny that talks on joining Horizon are foundering.

Brexiteers led by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith have now demanded that the UK abandons the “ridiculous idea” and sets up its own science hub to make Britain a superpower on its own in the sector.

Sir Iain has been a stern critic of the Windsor Framework, which is primarily aimed at fixing the Northern Ireland problems post-Brexit, but in his view this “has made matters worse”.

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The Tory grandee told Express.co.uk: “This is just another example of the EU always playing hardball.

“We have given them everything and they have given nothing in return.”

He said that the UK Government should now walk away from Horizon and do the thing the EU fears most and set up a rival hub.

Sir Iain said: “The EU is scared stiff of us sucking away scientists from them to us. That’s why they want us locked into Horizon on their terms.

“The fact is that the only reason anyone invested in Horizon was because the British were involved.

“We have a much better scientific research base than the EU and scientists and investors want to come to the UK.

“If we go it alone we could be a scientific superpower on our own without the EU.”

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In particular, Sir Iain has championed a Med Tech hub which if the UK sets up will make it the leader in the world in a groundbreaking field.

Mr Sunak has recently set up a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and has prioritised the area.

But his plans are in trouble with EU belligerence over Horizon.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt went on the defensive about the state of the talks when he visited Brussels.

He said that the talks over the exact terms of UK membership of the 95.5billion euro programme were “becoming more crunchy” as the two sides seek to work out the precise basis on which a deal would work for British taxpayers.

He added: “I wouldn’t describe them as stalled.”

But Mr Sunak was not the only Brexiteer unimpressed by the UK Government’s failure.

Former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib said that Britain should walk away from the EU which in his view is “a duplicitous bully”.

He said: “The EU promised to allow the UK to join Horizon Europe in the trade deal of 2020.

“But when Boris sought to protect Northern Ireland’s position in the UK, it reneged on that deal.

“Sunak, an unabashed europhile in pursuit of von der Leyen’s favour as a puppy is of its master, chose to throw Northern Ireland under a bus. His illegitimate Windsor Framework. Through it, he confirmed the partitioning of our once-great country. Northern Ireland has been annexed by the EU.

“And did von der Leyen reward him? Of course not. She knows he’s weak at the knees. So she has prosecuted her victory and again refused to honour her promise on Horizon Europe.”

He went on: “Sunak needs to learn that appeasing a bully only emboldens it. Chamberlain learnt the same lesson in 1939.

“But here is the thing: we must not join Horizon Europe.

“It’s not a benign research programme. Its research is carried out with one underlying aim, the furtherance of EU political interests.

“Indeed, the wretched project includes military research. The UK would be funding European military aspirations.

“Even Chamberlain stopped short of funding Hitler’s war machine.”

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