DUP: we are not arguing with May over Brexit negotiations
DUP DEPUTY leader Nigel Dodds has rejected claims that a row between the party and Prime Minister Theresa May is halting Brexit progress.
Weekend reports suggested that the DUP rejected a plan by Mrs May to allow different rules for goods in Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom following Brexit, to allow the Irish border to remain open.
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney yesterday also criticised the DUP, saying that it should not be allowed to veto the proposed Brexit backstop deal. The backstop would allow Northern Ireland to remain in the EU customs union if a Brexit deal cannot be reached.
“In many ways the backstop has turned into a green versus orange issue,” he said.
“Parties in Northern Ireland have been put under real pressure, mainly driven by fear. Unionists are fearful that a solution on this issue could result in barriers between Northern Ireland and the UK.
“Nationalists are fearful that they could see border infrastructure between where they live and where they regard as their country.”
However, Mr Dodds said claims that the DUP was interfering in Brexit negotiations were not true.
On Twitter the North Belfast MP wrote “no rows with us”, adding: “As PM said NO British PM could agree to EU demands to break up the UK.”
In a speech on Friday, Mrs May said the EU “did not respect” that Northern Ireland would remain part of the UK after Brexit after it rejected her Chequers plan. She reiterated there would never be a border in the Irish Sea.
Mrs May demanded the EU comes up with new proposals to break the current “impasse”.
“The EU should be clear: I will not overturn the result of the referendum. Nor will I break up my country,” Mrs May said.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday urged EU leaders to “step back from the abyss” of a no-deal Brexit and engage with Theresa May’s Chequers plan