Category Archives: Democratic Unionist party (DUP)

Brexit: Irish PM hints extra EU summit might be needed because ‘many issues’ still to be resolved– live news

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Prime minister will brief cabinet today on latest negotiations as UK and EU teams resume talks

These are from RTE’s Tony Connelly.

BREAKING: Michel Barnier has told EU Commissioners he is optimistic of getting a deal done today, @rtenews understands

2/ However, there still outstanding issues, so this could go right to the wire.

3/ It's understood VAT has emerged as a last minute problem: if NI remains inside the EU's VAT system, essential for North-South trade, then a new mechanism will have to be created for East-West trade, as the UK will be in its own VAT system

4/ However, it's understood officials are confident that a solution can be found.

5/ It's understood consent is also proving difficult, with a senior EU source saying the DUP are pushing to restore a tighter Stormont lock

6/ The third big hurdle is on the "level playing field" provisions. The EU is concerned at Boris Johnson's bid to dilute Theresa May's commitments to not stray far from the EU's environmental, state aid, social and labour standards

7/ The meeting of EU ambassadors, whom Barnier will brief, is still scheduled for 14hr CET, suggesting that the timings are still on course

ITV’s Robert Peston say the DUP are going back to Downing Street for another meeting.

DUP going back into Downing St, to try to find a way through roadblock. https://t.co/TDNS9amGqy

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Support grows for a new Brexit poll amid fears over Johnson’s plan

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DUP raises doubts on customs union, while Labour says it will whip MPs to support a second referendum

Pro-remain MPs predicted on Saturday that they were gaining sufficient cross-party support to secure a second Brexit referendum as fresh doubts were raised over whether Boris Johnson can secure a deal with the EU that can pass through parliament.

Related: No-deal Brexit will wreck Tories’ reputation as party of business, says Lidington

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Brexit: Tusk accuses Johnson of ‘stupid blame game’ as No 10 signals talks about to collapse – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as doubts grow over future of Brexit negotiations

This is from Mujtaba Rahman, the Brexit specialist at the Eurasia consultancy.

Collapse of negotiations now leaves MPs with a huge dilemma. Do they put trust in Benn Act to be robust enough to prevent the no-deal Boris will now gravitate to? Or do they oust him in a VONC to make totally sure? Former more likely- still no sign of agreement on caretaker PM

And these are from the BBC’s Berlin correspondent, Jenny Hill.

Worth bearing in mind the following when looking at No 10’s interpretation of Merkel / Johnson call. 1. This confrontational language / style is unusual for Merkel 2. Germany - more than most - has been careful to avoid leaks / statements which wld inflame tensions between UK&EU

3. My understanding is that German govt still ready to work to find solution not least because....4. Germany doesn’t want no deal. Met president of German exporters assoc earlier - they are horrified by prospect

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Brexit secretary hints UK could rethink DUP veto on deal

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Stephen Barclay also says government willing to discuss detail of customs proposals

The Brexit secretary has hinted that the government could amend its proposal to give the Democratic Unionist party an effective veto over its plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop

With EU leaders not willing to accept the UK’s ideas and talks between the two sides suspended over the weekend when Boris Johnson had been hoping to intensify them, Stephen Barclay said on Sunday that the government would be willing to discuss changes to the mechanism designed to ensure the new arrangements receive political approval in Northern Ireland.

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PM strikes secret deal with DUP as he draws up ‘final Brexit offer’

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Boris Johnson agrees pact with Northern Irish party as details emerge of ‘two borders’ plan

Boris Johnson has struck a secret deal with the Democratic Unionist party involving radical proposals for a Belfast-Dublin “bilateral lock” on post-Brexit arrangements on the island of Ireland.

Details have emerged of the prime minister’s final Brexit offer that he will lay out on Wednesday, with Northern Ireland staying under EU single market regulations for agri-food and manufactured goods until at least 2025, at which point its assembly in Stormont will decide whether to continue alignment with EU or UK standards.

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Ian Paisley Jr criticised by NUJ for personal attack on journalist

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North Antrim MP accused Sam McBride of lying as part of agenda to destroy DUP

Ian Paisley Jr has been strongly criticised by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for personal comments he made about a reporter in Belfast.

The North Antrim MP accused the News Letter’s political editor, Sam McBride, of lying as part of “an agenda to attempt to undermine and destroy the DUP”. In a 750-word Facebook post, since removed, Paisley described the journalist as “incredibly immature, intellectually weak and a simplistic fellow”.

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DUP’s Arlene Foster rules out seeking Westminster seat

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Moves follows speculation Northern Irish party leader could stand in snap election

Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party, has ruled out standing as an MP if a general election is called.

She is currently an MLA – member of the legislative assembly – at Stormont but the seat of Northern Ireland’s devolved government has been suspended since 2017 after the collapse of a power-sharing deal between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

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Boris Johnson’s UK tour: did he show he could save the union?

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PM set out to prove his pledge to the ‘awesome foursome’ but not everything went to plan

Boris Johnson pledged his commitment to the “awesome foursome” of the UK when he was elected Conservative leader, and has since embarked on a whistlestop tour taking in the north of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But how successful were the trips? Visits that involved keeping the prime minister away from booing protesters and, in some cases, journalists? Have they allayed fears that Johnson’s hardline Brexit strategy and the continuation of the union could be mutually exclusive?

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Northern Ireland local elections: smaller parties make gains

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Results reveal slight loosening of traditional unionist-nationalist stranglehold


Centrist parties have thrived and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) has consolidated its support, results of Northern Ireland’s local elections show.

With all first preference votes now counted, the Alliance and Green parties, as well as other small parties and independents, made gains, revealing a slight loosening of the traditional unionist-nationalist stranglehold. The DUP won 24.1% of first preferences, a modest increase from the 2014 local election, and Sinn Fein won 23.3%, a slight drop, confirming both parties still dominate the political landscape.

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Deal reached for Northern Ireland power-sharing talks

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Theresa May and Leo Varadkar announce plan for negotiations involving all major NI parties

The British and Irish governments have reached an agreement to establish a new round of talks involving all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, starting on 7 May.

Theresa May and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, credited the public response to the killing of Lyra McKee with the announcement on Friday of a fresh attempt to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland.

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Downing Street under pressure to close down Labour talks on Brexit

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No 10 scrambles to explore options before possible heavy losses in EU elections

No 10 is feeling the pressure to pull the plug on Brexit talks with Labour and move to an alternative plan, amid warnings that the opposition is in no hurry for a deal before the European elections.

With talks deadlocked and no sign that the government moving on its red lines, neither the Conservatives or Labour want to appear responsible for the breakdown in discussions.

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Owen Jones asks Sinn Féin leader if Brexit could lead to a united Ireland – video

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Owen Jones speaks to Mary Lou McDonald about Brexit, the implications for the peace process and the possibility of a united Ireland, and tries to answer once and for all why her party will never take its seats in the British parliament 

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Brexit: May suffers fresh setback as DUP says it will vote against deal for third time – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including the indicative votes debate as MPs choose from eight options

The Commons sitting has been suspended but, as my colleague Dan Sabbagh and others report, there is a bit of a row going on about the fact that the mace is still there.

Speaker has walked out suspending proceedings until the indicative votes are counted. But Tories are furiously pointing to the mace, still in its place, and trying to encourage deputy speaker Eleanor Laing to take the chair. Which would be a parliamentary take over...

The mace is still in place which I think is the cause of the uproar. It’s not meant to be there if we’re not sitting, but I don’t know if a brief suspension counts. It’s not normal for the Chamber to be occupied without anyone in the chair.

Speaker suspends sitting & vacates chair while we wait for results of this evening’s votes - as he had said he would do.
Tory MPs object that the mace is still there.
They object by trying to raise points of order to an empty chair.
What a total shambles of a parliament.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says he is not able to announce the results of the indicative votes ballot yet because they have not all been counted. But he says he hopes to be able to announce them soon.

So he suspends the house.

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Brexit: DUP says one-year delay better than May’s deal – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the Commons voting to try to take control of the Brexit process

The government has responded to the “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU” petition and has announced that it will debate it in Westminster on Monday.

The petition has so far garnered more than 5.7m signatures.

This government will not revoke article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.

It remains the government’s firm policy not to revoke article 50. We will honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum and work to deliver an exit which benefits everyone, whether they voted to leave or to remain.

A motion Conservative MP Nick Boles will table tomorrow has appeared. Here the full text from The Telegraph’s Anna Mikhailova, for those who fancy a headache:

Here it is:

The Nick Boles Common Market 2.0 motion for tomorrow pic.twitter.com/9UTgr9HcPc

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Ministers in talks with DUP in attempt to win backing for Brexit deal

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Discussions likely to cover role of Northern Ireland assembly if Irish backstop were used

The Democratic Unionist party is to continue intensive talks to try to reach an agreement to allow it to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, with discussions focusing on domestic legal guarantees that Northern Ireland will have no regulatory divergence with the rest of the UK.

Downing Street is hopeful that the support of the DUP is key to unlocking the backing of many Conservative Brexiters when May brings her deal to the House of Commons for the third time.

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Brexit: DUP and ERG say they cannot support May as MPs debate deal – Politics live

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PM puts new plan to Commons as Geoffrey Cox says legal risk over backstop ‘remains unchanged’

Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, is speaking in the debate now. He says he had hoped that the EU would make the wholly reasonable changes the UK wanted. But the EU refused to do that.

Like Adam and Eve, they sowed a fig leaf that failed to cover the embarrassment of the UK, he says.

This deal has now reached the end of the road. If it is rejected tonight, I hope that it will be put to bed.

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Government defeated in Lords over meaningful vote on future trade deals – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

- The government are defeated on Labour’s amendment 13 in the House of Lords. The amendment makes it an “objective” of the government during negotiations to pursue a free trade deal allowing the UK to stay “in a customs union” with the EU after Brexit.

- The government was defeated on amendment 12 which called for parliamentary approval of future trade agreements.

Prince Charles has saluted the ”unparalleled bonds” between Britain and Ireland at a time of strained Anglo-Irish relations caused by Brexit.

The Prince of Wales was attending a special St Patrick’s Day dinner at the Irish embassy in London where British and Irish politicians mingled amid continuing uncertainty and recriminations over the Irish border issue in the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

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Brexit vote: Jeremy Corbyn tables no-confidence motion after May defeat – Politics live

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Prime minister’s Brexit deal is lost by 432 votes to 202

Earlier tonight, thousands of people in favour of a second referendum marched on Parliament Square, where they watching the thumping defeat of Theresa May’s deal broadcast on large screens.

Related: People's vote supporters revel in defeat of May's Brexit deal

The former Maryland congressman John Delaney has become the first 2020 presidential candidate to weigh in on Theresa May’s resounding Brexit defeat in parliament on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Guardian, Delaney, a former businessman and centrist Democrat mounting a dark horse bid for the White House in 2020, said: “The truth is Brexit was never honestly sold to voters, which is why the UK finds itself in such a difficult position right now.

Related: John Delaney becomes first 2020 candidate to weigh in on Brexit

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Brexit: Tory whip Gareth Johnson resigns because he can’t support May’s deal – Politics live

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PM speech comes after letter from Tusk and Juncker says EU will consider technological alternatives to backstop

In an article for the Guardian, Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, says that historical precedent dictates that, if Theresa May loses the Brexit vote tomorrow, she should call a general election.

Here is an extract.

In this week in 1910, the British electorate went to the polls. They did so because Herbert Asquith’s Liberal government had been unable to get Lloyd George’s famous People’s Budget through the House of Lords. Liberal posters defined the election as a choice between the peers and the people. They finally got their way after a second election that December.

So twice that year, and a number of other times, governments who could not get their flagship legislation through parliament, or who otherwise found their authority in the House of Commons exhausted, have been obliged to go to the country to seek a new mandate.

Related: If Labour supports a public vote we’ll take no lectures from Tories about democracy | Emily Thornberry

Conservative MPs have been told that Theresa May will address the party’s backbench 1922 committee at 7pm, after her statement to the Commons. And Jeremy Corbyn will be addressing the parliamentary Labour party meeting tonight too.

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