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| DUP MP warns Brexit talks could endanger party's deal with Tories | DUP MP warns Brexit talks could endanger party's deal with Tories |
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| One of the Democratic Unionist party’s MPs has warned that any Brexit arrangement with Brussels that leaves Northern Ireland in a different customs and trade regime from the rest of the UK would endanger its deal that keeps the Conservatives in power. | One of the Democratic Unionist party’s MPs has warned that any Brexit arrangement with Brussels that leaves Northern Ireland in a different customs and trade regime from the rest of the UK would endanger its deal that keeps the Conservatives in power. |
| Sammy Wilson, the MP for East Antrim, said on Thursday that any move to “placate” the Irish government and the EU would put in peril the arrangement in which 10 DUP MPs prop up the minority Tory government. | Sammy Wilson, the MP for East Antrim, said on Thursday that any move to “placate” the Irish government and the EU would put in peril the arrangement in which 10 DUP MPs prop up the minority Tory government. |
| Wilson stressed that the DUP would seek clarification from Theresa May and the Tories over reports earlier on Thursday that a Brexit deal on the Irish border would ensure trading relations in areas such as agriculture and energy remain harmonised between Northern Ireland and the EU. | Wilson stressed that the DUP would seek clarification from Theresa May and the Tories over reports earlier on Thursday that a Brexit deal on the Irish border would ensure trading relations in areas such as agriculture and energy remain harmonised between Northern Ireland and the EU. |
| The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, said last week that any attempt to treat the region differently in terms of Brexit and relationships with the rest of the EU would appear to unionists as an attempt to decouple Northern Ireland from the UK. | The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, said last week that any attempt to treat the region differently in terms of Brexit and relationships with the rest of the EU would appear to unionists as an attempt to decouple Northern Ireland from the UK. |
| Although other DUP MPs privately emphasised they would be seeking a response from the government that would rebuff the border proposals, Wilson is seen as an important gauge of opinion inside the party. | Although other DUP MPs privately emphasised they would be seeking a response from the government that would rebuff the border proposals, Wilson is seen as an important gauge of opinion inside the party. |
| He said the DUP would be “making clear to the government we have a confidence and supply arrangement with them”. That deal allows the DUP to vote against some government policies but guarantees support in crucial votes of no confidence in the Commons and on critical policy measures such as the budget. The arrangement is predicated on a £1bn-plus aid package the DUP extracted from the Tories after the June election. | |
| “If there is any hint that, in order to placate Dublin and the EU they’re prepared to have Northern Ireland treated differently than the rest of the UK, then they can’t rely on our vote,” said Wilson. “They have to recognise that if this is about treating Northern Ireland different, or leaving us half in the EU, dragging along regulations which change in Dublin, it’s not on,.” | “If there is any hint that, in order to placate Dublin and the EU they’re prepared to have Northern Ireland treated differently than the rest of the UK, then they can’t rely on our vote,” said Wilson. “They have to recognise that if this is about treating Northern Ireland different, or leaving us half in the EU, dragging along regulations which change in Dublin, it’s not on,.” |
| The former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble also warned that the Brexit border proposals on harmonising trading relations between the region, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU were “extremely dangerous.” | The former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble also warned that the Brexit border proposals on harmonising trading relations between the region, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU were “extremely dangerous.” |
| Lord Trimble, one of the key architects of the Good Friday agreement, said any move to treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK would clash with the 1998 peace deal, which was based on the key principle that there would be no change to the region’s constitutional status without majority consent. | Lord Trimble, one of the key architects of the Good Friday agreement, said any move to treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK would clash with the 1998 peace deal, which was based on the key principle that there would be no change to the region’s constitutional status without majority consent. |
| The former first minister, now a Conservative peer, called on the prime minister to “quash this idea very quickly” as it would start to alarm the unionist electorate in Northern Ireland. Unionist voters might start to believe the Irish government, in pushing this policy through, was trying to break up the UK, Trimble said. | The former first minister, now a Conservative peer, called on the prime minister to “quash this idea very quickly” as it would start to alarm the unionist electorate in Northern Ireland. Unionist voters might start to believe the Irish government, in pushing this policy through, was trying to break up the UK, Trimble said. |