Trade row unites parties in bid to protect jobs at

THE Conservatives have suffered a climbdown over health service pay rises after the DUP backed Labour at Westminster.

DUP MP Ian Paisley said it sent out a “clarion call” on the issue of higher wages for doctors and nurses.

MPs supported a non-binding Opposition House of Commons motion calling for an end to the public sector pay cap in the NHS, but it was not put to a vote after the Government did not contest it.

A second Opposition motion was also approved unopposed after no MPs voiced opposition to a bid to scrap regulations which allow universities to raise fees up to £9,250.

It too represented a symbolic defeat but prevented the Government from suffering the embarrassment of seeing their DUP allies walking through the lobbies in support of Labour.

Mr Paisley is one of 10 pro-Brexit DUP MPs helping to prop up Prime Minister Theresa May’s Tory administration after her snap election left her with no overall majority.

Yesterday would have marked the first time DUP MPs voted to pressure ministers since their party agreed to a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement with the Conservatives after the election.

Because the motion was not binding it would not have amounted to a breach of the £1bn Tory/DUP deal.

North Antrim MP Mr Paisley said: “I’ve already alluded to the fact that I’m delighted that the Labour Party has brought forward this debate tonight.

“We will support them if this matter goes to a vote tonight, and it’s interesting to see if we will actually get to that point. Maybe the House will agree that the points that have been raised today are such that we DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill have written to US Vice President Mike Pence over the “very grave economic threat” facing Bombardier in Northern Ireland, warning it could have repercussions for the peace process.

It follows the eruption of a transatlantic trade war that could impact on more than 4,000 Bombardier workers here.

The row centres around a legal challenge by rival North American aerospace manufacturer Boeing.

The US giant is objecting to the sale of the Canadian firm’s aircraft — in particular its flagship CSeries passenger jets — at what it claims is a below-market rate, subsidised in part by a $1bn should send out a clarion call from this House that we do agree with the points that have been raised, all across this chamber today.”

The Government only commands a majority bailout from Quebec’s regional government.

The challenge by Boeing, if successful, could effectively price out and cut off Bombardier’s largest market in the US and lead to major job losses. because of its arrangement with the DUP, which has said it will support the Conservatives on key legislation.

Mr Paisley added: “To those members of the Labour Party who chide about the £1bn deal, your party would quite happily have cut a deal that would probably have been better for us.

“That’s the discussions we had in advance of the last election,

Prime Minister Theresa May has already spoken to President Donald Trump over the issue.

She is also due to meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau next week.

Now Mrs Foster and Mrs and to chide us, you only hurt public servants in Northern Ireland who are benefiting from that £1bn deal that will allow us to allocate this money to relieve these costs.”

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the motion was not covered by the confidence and supply arrangement agreed by the two parties.

“Lifting the cap on nurses’ pay O’Neill have written to Mr Pence in the White House to say that if Boeing’s case succeeds, “this would have serious implications for the future of the CSeries aircraft and Bombardier’s Belfast operation”. and in the public sector generally is our party policy. The Government understood that is the way that we were going to vote,” Mr Dodds told Sky News following the debate. “It is not part of the confidence and supply arrangements. We are separate parties, we are not part of the Government and we will make up our own mind on those issues.”

Conservative sources insisted

The letter says that “as the leaders of the two main political parties elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly we are writing to you to seek your assistance in addressing a very grave economic threat facing Bombardier in the region”.

“Bombardier Belfast is our largest manufacturer, and a highly significant exporter and employer in this region.

“The value of its operations covers an extensive supply chain. For a small economy such as ours, the significance of the contribution that Bombardier makes cannot be understated.

“The threat facing us as a result of the ongoing case is alarming, and goes much wider than it may immediately appear.

“The security of our economy has and continues to be a crucial part of our efforts in delivering the Government, we will continue to deliver on other key objectives both for Northern Ireland and for the United Kingdom as a whole.”

During the debate Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt labelled the Labour motion as “bogus” and said it was “absolute nonsense” to suggest the cap over the last seven years was part of an “ideological mission” to reduce the size of the State.

However, he faced some calls from the Tory benches to lift the cap, with Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Health Select Committee, arguing that it had gone on for long enough.

No DUP MPs were in the chamber for the start of the debate on tuition fees, with Carol Monaghan, the SNP’s education spokeswoman, claiming “they have all headed to the airport”.

However, two DUP MPs were visible in the chamber at the time of the vote. peace through prosperity. At a time when we are striving to take the next steps in our work on the peace process, and resolve our current political difficulties, this issue creates a new and potentially critical factor.”

Secretary of State James Brokenshire said he Government was “working tirelessly” to safeguard Bombardier’s operations.

Speaking during Northern Ireland Questions in the Commons, Mr Brokenshire said: “Our priority is to encourage Boeing to drop its case and seek a negotiated settlement.”

His comments came as DUP MP Nigel Dodds raised the issue of jobs in the Bombardier plant in Belfast and urged the Secretary of State to “remain fully committed and involved with us to ensure that those jobs are safeguarded”.