DUP warn Tories: You can’t take our support for granted
As humbled PM dumps her manifesto pledges...
THE Prime Minister was warned by the Democratic Unionist Party not to take its support ‘for granted’ last night in an apparent setback to her hopes of securing a deal to keep her in power.
Theresa May is trying to hammer out an agreement with the DUP to shore up her minority Government. But sources within the Northern Irish party warned a deal was ‘certainly not imminent’.
The senior source said the talks ‘haven’t proceeded in a way that the DUP would have expected’ and cautioned that the party ‘can’t be taken for granted’.
The source also urged the Government to give ‘greater focus’ to the negotiations. The comments are embarrassing for Mrs May on the eve of the Queen’s Speech.
The Prime Minister will today unveil a slimmed down two- year legislative programme focused heavily on making a success of Brexit.
A series of manifesto pledges blamed for costing the Tories a majority will be dumped, including plans to scrap the winter fuel allowance and the pension triple lock, a vote to repeal the foxhunting ban and the scrapping of free school dinners for infants.
But Tory sources said Mrs May would still put forward a ‘ strong domestic agenda’, including plans to curb rip-off energy bills, measures to tackle extremism, laws on toughening up on domestic violence and putting an end to bogus whiplash claims that could save the average motorist £35 a year.
The Government is also set to pledge action to tackle the crisis in social care. But detail is expected to be light, and there will be no revival of the controversial manifesto proposals which critics dubbed the ‘dementia tax’. And she insisted the Tories would not abandon deficit reduction, saying the Government would ‘ continue to bring down the deficit so that young people don’t spend most of their working lives paying for our failure to live within our means.’
Speaking ahead of today’s announcement, the Prime Minister acknowledged the need to listen to voters’ concerns after a bruising election campaign that backfired.
‘The election result was not the one I hoped for, his Government will respond with humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent,’ she said. Today’s Queen’s Speech will also contain a string of measures designed to smooth the path to Brexit.
As well as the Great Repeal Bill, which will copy EU regulations into law before we leave to make life easier for business, the package will also include new laws on immigration, trade, farming and fishing.
Mrs May last night said the election gave a clear mandate for Brexit, with well over 80 per cent of the electorate voting for either Labour or the Tories, which both pledged to respect the referendum result.
She said her first priority would be to ‘get Brexit right’, adding: ‘That means getting a deal which delivers the result of last year’s referendum and does so in a way that commands maximum public support.
‘While this will be a Government that consults and listens, we are clear that we are going to see Brexit through, working with Parliament, business, the devolved administrations and others to ensure a smooth and orderly withdrawal.’
The Prime Minister has also been rocked by speculation about her leadership.
But her campaign manager Chris Grayling yesterday warned potential rivals to back off, saying: ‘I don’t think a change of prime minister should be on our agenda.’