DUP may join bid to topple British govt

If she agrees a deal which breaks her own promises, then I think we have no alternative Sammy Wilson, Democratic Unionist Party Brexit spokesman

dublin — The Northern Irish party that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government relies on for support has said it would consider supporting a vote of no-confidence if May agrees to EU checks on goods entering the region in Brexit talks.

Democratic Unionist Party Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson told Ireland’s RTE radio the party’s 10 parliamentarians would vote against the UK budget and would consider voting no-confidence in May if the British government breaks the DUP’s red lines in Brexit talks.

“If she agrees a deal which breaks her own promises, then I think we have no alternative,” Wilson said when asked if the DUP would vote against the British budget. “In breaking her promises she would be agreeing to break up the United Kingdom,” he said. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday said Britain must accept possible checks on goods moving between its mainland and its province of Northern Ireland, saying Brexit would trigger the need for customs, value-added tax and compliance checks with EU standards.

Wilson said such a deal “would in effect have Northern Ireland ruled by the EU rather than London” and would exclude Northern Ireland from future UK trade deals. Barnier’s suggestion was “gratuitous constitutional vandalism” he said. —