May ‘close to winning over DUP on Brexit’
British PM woos Arlene Foster’s party with pledges of more cash
THERESA May was last night closing in on an agreement with the DUP that could salvage her Brexit deal.
British ministers held intensive talks with senior Democratic Unionist Party figures yesterday.
The talks could see Northern Ireland benefit from fresh postBrexit protections and more cash – in return for the DUP backing the prime minister’s agreement.
Negotiations are set to continue over the weekend, with ministers targeting an agreement on Monday ahead of a third attempt to win parliamentary approval for Mrs May’s deal, probably on Tuesday. The talks are focusing on legal assurances designed to prevent the backstop driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
But sources said the DUP also discussed their demand for air passenger duty to be abolished in the North during a working lunch with British chancellor Philip Hammond and Conservative government chief whip Julian Smith yesterday. A source said the possibility of extending the confidence-and-supply deal between the DUP and Conservatives, which is due to end in June, was also part of the negotiations designed to secure DUP support.
In the first round of talks in 2017, the DUP secured an extra £1billion (€1.17billion) for the North.
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the two sides had ‘good discussions’, adding: ‘We want to get a deal.’ Asked if extra money had been discussed with Mr Hammond, Mr Dodds insisted: ‘We are not discussing cash.’
But Tory sources last night acknowledged that cash was likely to form part of any deal, even if the final sum is not agreed until later in the year.
The scrapping of air passenger duty would also make a significant difference, with campaigners claiming the North loses one million passengers a year to Dublin as a result of the charge.
The DUP’s support for the Brexit deal is seen as critical, with dozens of Tory Eurosceptics saying they will never support it unless the unionists are satisfied. One Tory source said: ‘They know how to negotiate and they know we need them. But the Chancellor is also in deal-making mode.’
As momentum appeared to be building behind Mrs May, Downing Street was putting the final touches to new proposals designed to win the support of Labour MPs. These included the promise that parliament will get a say on the government’s negotiating aims for the second part of the Brexit talks.
No.10 also confirmed Mrs May would next week seek to delay Brexit from the scheduled leaving date of March 29 if her deal is rejected again.
Speaking after the talks, Mr Dodds said: ‘We have had a long series of discussions with a series of cabinet ministers today. We have had a constructive dialogue. Those discussions will continue over the coming period of time.’
He added: ‘From day one, our focus has been on the red line of how Northern Ireland is treated separately from the rest of the UK. That is the issue that has been the priority concern for us.’
DUP demands include legislation for a so-called ‘Stormont Lock’ that would give the assembly a say over any new EU regulations imposed under the backstop. The party also wants legislation that would prevent the rest of the UK diverging from the North on regulatory issues during any period in the backstop.
British attorney-general Geoffrey Cox is ‘updating’ his legal advice on the backstop ahead of next week’s vote. A government source said Mr Cox ‘will not change his advice on the facts’, but added: ‘He could elaborate on things and answer different questions.’ Mr Cox is said to be expanding on the possibility that the Vienna Convention could provide a way out of the backstop, which critics fear could leave the UK locked in a customs union indefinitely. He is said to believe the UK could withdraw from the backstop if it could be shown to be undermining the Good Friday Agreement.
Legal advice circulated by Brussels to EU ambassadors yesterday said member states cannot attach ‘special conditions’ to any granting of an extension of Article 50 – which enacts Brexit – such as demanding the UK hold a second referendum. The advice also states it is ‘in principle, possible’ for the UK to seek more than one extension of Article 50, holding out the possibility the UK’s exit date could continue to recede into the future if no deal can be agreed.
But it warns that no further extension will be possible unless the UK agrees to hold elections to the European parliament on May 23, as failure to do so would leave British citizens unrepresented.
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DUP support is seen as critical
Demand for a ‘Stormont Lock’