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DUP leader Arlene Foster has said it is \u201cvery important\u201d Britain leaves the European Union by October 31, but she refused to back either candidate to become the next UK prime minister.<\/p>\nDUP leader Arlene Foster has said it is \u201cvery important\u201d Britain leaves the European Union by October 31, but she refused to back either candidate to become the next UK prime minister.<\/p>\n
She said the Government must keep a no-deal Brexit on the table and claimed repeated extensions are fueling public discontent.<\/p>\n
Tory leadership favorite Boris Johnson has pledged to leave by the Halloween deadline, but his rival for Number 10 Jeremy Hunt has left the option of an extension open.<\/p>\n
Mrs Foster told the Policy Exchange think tank: \u201cIt\u2019s very important that we leave on October 31.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we should have left by now and I think a lot of the discontent within the United Kingdom is caused by the fact that we haven\u2019t left, and we\u2019ve seen that in the European election results.\u201d<\/p>\n
She refused to back either Mr Johnson or Mr Hunt as next Tory leader at the event on Wednesday in central London, but said she has a \u201cgood relationship\u201d with both.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not a matter for me, thankfully,\u201d said Mrs Foster, referring to the leadership contest.<\/p>\n
But she added she will \u201clook forward\u201d to working with either and has conversations with both \u201call the time\u201d.<\/p>\n
The event panel, which focused on the Irish backstop, also included Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis and Graham Brady, the former chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee.<\/p>\n
Dr Ray Bassett, who was part of the Irish Government\u2019s Belfast Agreement talks team, and Lord Bew of Donegore were also on the panel.<\/p>\n
Mrs Foster said outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May broke \u201cmany promises\u201d around the backstop, which has become a focal point of Britain\u2019s exit from the European Union.<\/p>\n
She said unionists \u201ccannot allow a backstop which will damage the union economically\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI think there is an opportunity for our new prime minister to deal proactively with the issue and I am heartened by what I have heard from both Boris and Jeremy in relation to these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the country must \u201cdeliver on Brexit\u201d and \u201cget a deal that works for the whole of the United Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n
She went on: \u201cI believe that post-Brexit, the Union, the United Kingdom, has more relevance and is more important today than in any time in its history.\u201d<\/p>\n
No deal must be kept \u201con the table\u201d, Mrs Foster insisted.<\/p>\n
The DUP leader added it is a \u201cgreat falsehood\u201d that \u201cthe backstop is required by the Belfast Agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cOf course it\u2019s probably \u2013 to my mind \u2013 the greatest lie told in politics today. And that\u2019s really saying something isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Brady told the event it would be \u201cbizarre\u201d for any Tory MPs to bring down the Government if a no-deal was tabled.<\/p>\n
He said he has \u201cno idea\u201d whether 10 to 15 MPs in the party are planning the move.<\/p>\n