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Reports in the UK suggest the DUP leader Arlene Foster is ready for a no-deal Brexit.<\/p>\nReports in the UK suggest the DUP leader Arlene Foster is ready for a no-deal Brexit.<\/p>\n
It comes amid political instability in Britain where there are calls for a revolt against the British Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
Resolving differences over the Irish border remains a key stumbling block in Brexit negotiations.<\/p>\n
Theresa May faces a Tory mutiny and increased pressure from her DUP allies over Brexit as a key summit with EU leaders looms.<\/p>\n
The Observer newspaper today reports the DUP leader describing a meeting with the EU’s Chief Brexit negotiator as “hostile and difficult”.<\/p>\n
Her views were contained in an email to a British Conservative MEP seen by the newspaper.<\/p>\n
As negotiations continue in Brussels ahead of a summit starting on Wednesday, the Prime Minister faces a political battle over a plan which could keep the UK in a customs union to avoid a hard border with Ireland.<\/p>\n
Britain’s former Brexit secretary David Davis said the plan was \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d and urged Cabinet ministers there to \u201cexert their collective authority\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ms Foster is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier in Brussels.<\/p>\n
Her party is opposed to any customs arrangement which would result in Northern Ireland being \u201cannexed\u201d or impose extra checks on goods travelling to or from Great Britain.<\/p>\n
With continued speculation that Leave-supporting Cabinet ministers could resign if Mrs May presses ahead with the plan, David Davis said: \u201cThis is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing in the Sunday Times he said: \u201cIt is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal with Brussels, with wrangling continuing over the nature of a \u201cbackstop\u201d to keep the frontier open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s version, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels\u2019 rules, has been called unacceptable by Mrs May and is loathed by the DUP.<\/p>\n
Mrs May\u2019s counter-proposal is for a \u201ctemporary customs arrangement\u201d for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers are suspicious this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting the freedom to strike trade deals around the world.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times said at least nine ministers want Mrs May to change course when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Speculation about possible resignations has centered on Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey, but the newspaper also indicated that Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could quit because special arrangements for Northern Ireland could fuel the case for Scottish independence.<\/p>\n
Mrs May\u2019s own position also appeared in jeopardy, with as many as 44 letters demanding a vote of no confidence reportedly submitted to the Conservative 1922 Committee \u2013 just four short of the number required to trigger a ballot.<\/p>\n
The Northern Irish situation is politically problematic for Mrs May because her minority administration depends on the votes of the 10 DUP MPs.<\/p>\n
A leaked email reported in the Observer indicated Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.<\/p>\n
According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.<\/p>\n
The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU\u2019s chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as \u201cdifficult and hostile\u201d and indicated \u201cthe DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one\u201d.<\/p>\n
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph on Saturday, Mrs Foster said she appreciated the risks of a no-deal Brexit but \u201cthe dangers of a bad deal are worse\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe DUP\u2019s actions this week are not as some have suggested about \u2018flexing muscle\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is no game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone engaging in this in a light-hearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
A further demonstration of Tory resistance to Mrs May\u2019s plans came from MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that \u201cthe idea of remaining in the customs union \u2013 even it if is called a \u2018temporary customs arrangement\u2019 \u2013 after the end of the transition period, in to the 2020s, means simply delaying Brexit and causing the 17.4 million people who voted for it to lose faith in our democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit MPs, warned that when it came to the backstop proposal \u201ctemporary means eternal\u201d.- Press Association<\/p>\n