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Politics

10th Dec 2018

Arlene Foster has responded to the latest Brexit drama

Carl Kinsella

Arlene Foster

The drama continues.

Reports have emerged on Monday that Theresa May is set to cancel the House of Commons vote on her Brexit withdrawal agreement, and that she is planning to return to renegotiate the deal with the European Union.

The suggestion that a new deal can be brokered has been slammed by Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s representative in Brexit negotiations. He has reiterated the EU position that the union “will never let Ireland down.”

Now, DUP leader Arlene Foster has thrown yet another spanner in the works, saying: “Just finished a call with the Prime Minister. My message was clear. The backstop must go. Too much time has been wasted. Need a better deal. Disappointed it has taken so long for Prime Minister to listen.”

Throughout the Brexit negotiations, Foster has remained adamant that the DUP will not accept any deal that presents any chance that Northern Ireland will abide by different trade and economic regulations than the rest of the United Kingdom.

However, any deal acceptable to the EU will include a “backstop” in order to prevent a harder border on the island of Ireland. This backstop will require that the UK remains either wholly or in part aligned with the regulations of the customs union and single market.

While there is currently no assembly sitting in Stormont, the DUP’s 10 seats are essentially to give Theresa May’s Conservative Party a majority on any vote in the House of Commons.

May’s Brexit deal is expected to be voted down in the House of Commons on Tuesday, if a vote goes ahead.

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