DUP backs alternative to Chequers

THERESA May’s governing partners last night backed an alternative Brexit plan for Northern Ireland put forward by Tory Eurosceptics.

The Democratic Unionist Party welcomed proposals by the European Research Group as a ‘positive and timely’ contribution towards resolving the Irish border issue – potentially opening up a rift with the Prime Minister.

The plan was launched by the group’s leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, and backed by former Cabinet ministers David Davis, Theresa Villiers and Owen Paterson, along with Lord Trimble, an architect of the Good Friday Agreement.

The 19-page document, with proposals including a common bio-security zone, was designed to answer the Government’s criticism that Eurosceptics have no answer to the problem of how to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit. And, in a significant boost for the ERG, the plan has been backed by the DUP, whose voting support in the Commons is critical to Mrs May.

Deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: ‘The paper makes clear that, in the event of a free trade deal being negotiated with the EU, there are sensible practical measures which can ensure there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.’