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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/07/brexit-legal-advice-dup-jeffrey-donaldson
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| Publish ministers' Brexit legal advice in full, DUP demands | Publish ministers' Brexit legal advice in full, DUP demands |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Pressure is growing on the government to provide details of legal advice about a possible Brexit deal, with the Democratic Unionist party demanding that it be published, following calls from cabinet ministers to see the full document. | |
| The advice, drawn up by the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, at the request of Theresa May, looks into the various options connected to the backstop, seen as the final major impasse before a deal can be agreed. | The advice, drawn up by the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, at the request of Theresa May, looks into the various options connected to the backstop, seen as the final major impasse before a deal can be agreed. |
| At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Cox gave ministers a summary of the advice, and told them that if the UK insisted on the right to unilaterally end a backstop, opposed by the EU, it increased the risk of no deal. | |
| It is understood that some ministers, among them Michael Gove, asked the prime minister whether they could see the full legal advice drawn up by Cox, rather than just hearing his summary and interpretations. | |
| On Wednesday, Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s chief whip at Westminster, said the party would like to see the full document published, allowing not only ministers but MPs and the public to assess it. | On Wednesday, Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s chief whip at Westminster, said the party would like to see the full document published, allowing not only ministers but MPs and the public to assess it. |
| He also reiterated the party’s warnings about a possible no-deal outcome, pouring cold water on hopes in Downing Street that a workable plan for the Irish border could be near. | He also reiterated the party’s warnings about a possible no-deal outcome, pouring cold water on hopes in Downing Street that a workable plan for the Irish border could be near. |
| Under the backstop idea, which officials will try to finalise before another potential cabinet meeting later in the week, the UK could maintain a temporary customs arrangement with the EU without being forced to accept a border in the Irish Sea. | Under the backstop idea, which officials will try to finalise before another potential cabinet meeting later in the week, the UK could maintain a temporary customs arrangement with the EU without being forced to accept a border in the Irish Sea. |
| May told her cabinet to “stand by their diaries”, with government sources suggesting ministers could be summoned for an emergency meeting later this week to sign off the backstop proposal before presenting it to Brussels, possibly later this month. | May told her cabinet to “stand by their diaries”, with government sources suggesting ministers could be summoned for an emergency meeting later this week to sign off the backstop proposal before presenting it to Brussels, possibly later this month. |
| She warned that, while she wanted to strike a deal, this could not be “at any cost” and would depend on an “acceptable” framework for a future relationship with the EU, expected to be set out in a separate political declaration. | She warned that, while she wanted to strike a deal, this could not be “at any cost” and would depend on an “acceptable” framework for a future relationship with the EU, expected to be set out in a separate political declaration. |
| Donaldson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while ministers had said they would share the full legal advice with the DUP, the party, which is supporting May in government, wanted it to be published. | Donaldson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while ministers had said they would share the full legal advice with the DUP, the party, which is supporting May in government, wanted it to be published. |
| “It’s in the public interest that we understand fully what is happening here,” he said. “We’ve had that commitment already from the government, that they will tell us what the legal advice they have is in relation to the backstop.” | “It’s in the public interest that we understand fully what is happening here,” he said. “We’ve had that commitment already from the government, that they will tell us what the legal advice they have is in relation to the backstop.” |
| “It’s because it affects the whole of the United Kingdom and therefore it shouldn’t just be the Democratic Unionist party that sees this advice, or the government,” he said. | “It’s because it affects the whole of the United Kingdom and therefore it shouldn’t just be the Democratic Unionist party that sees this advice, or the government,” he said. |
| “If the House of Commons is going to have a meaningful vote on a deal upon which this legal advice is very important, then I think people are entitled to know what that legal advice is.” | “If the House of Commons is going to have a meaningful vote on a deal upon which this legal advice is very important, then I think people are entitled to know what that legal advice is.” |
| Hopes have grown in recent days that the issue of the backstop – which seeks to put in place a guarantee for the EU to avoid a hard Irish border if no permanent solution can be found – could be resolved, paving the way for a deal. | Hopes have grown in recent days that the issue of the backstop – which seeks to put in place a guarantee for the EU to avoid a hard Irish border if no permanent solution can be found – could be resolved, paving the way for a deal. |
| Donaldson reiterated that while his party hoped for an agreement, it believed a no-deal departure remained very possible. | Donaldson reiterated that while his party hoped for an agreement, it believed a no-deal departure remained very possible. |
| “We haven’t got a deal at the moment, and it’s clear from the rhetoric coming from both Brussels and Dublin that they are so far opposing what the prime minister has suggested in terms of pragmatic arrangements to deal with the Irish border,” he said. | “We haven’t got a deal at the moment, and it’s clear from the rhetoric coming from both Brussels and Dublin that they are so far opposing what the prime minister has suggested in terms of pragmatic arrangements to deal with the Irish border,” he said. |
| The party’s concerns about the backstop went beyond whether it would be time-limited, Donaldson said. He agreed that having no time limit was seen as common sense. | The party’s concerns about the backstop went beyond whether it would be time-limited, Donaldson said. He agreed that having no time limit was seen as common sense. |
| ”If that was what the backstop was just about, yes, it would be,” he said. “But it’s not, of course, because the backstop is about effectively annexing Northern Ireland from Great Britain, in terms of tying it into a single market separate from the rest of the United Kingdom.” | ”If that was what the backstop was just about, yes, it would be,” he said. “But it’s not, of course, because the backstop is about effectively annexing Northern Ireland from Great Britain, in terms of tying it into a single market separate from the rest of the United Kingdom.” |
| Donaldson denied that the DUP – which threatened to vote down last week’s budget but then supported it – was bluffing. | Donaldson denied that the DUP – which threatened to vote down last week’s budget but then supported it – was bluffing. |
| “Let’s see what the deal is. We’re not afraid of a general election,” he said. “I’m quite happy to go to the people of Northern Ireland on the basis that we voted against a deal because it was not in the interests of Northern Ireland, it would have resulted in Northern Ireland being annexed from the United Kingdom.” | “Let’s see what the deal is. We’re not afraid of a general election,” he said. “I’m quite happy to go to the people of Northern Ireland on the basis that we voted against a deal because it was not in the interests of Northern Ireland, it would have resulted in Northern Ireland being annexed from the United Kingdom.” |
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