Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Plot to oust May gathers momentum
DUP leader calls on London to act Brexiteers reveal border blueprint
THERESA May’s Tory enemies have begun openly plotting how to topple the Prime Minister.
About 50 hard Brexiteers discussed plans to oust their leader, with reports suggesting a coup could be launched within days.
One present at Tuesday night’s meeting where Mrs May’s future was on the agenda said in a text to ITV: “Virtually the only topic of conversation for 40/50 mins was how best do we get rid of her?”
Cabinet Ministers meet for a three-hour Downing Street showdown today where they will thrash out no-deal contingency plans.
A No 10 source insisted the PM would fight any vote of no-confidence. THE British Government must not “subcontract” its role in restoring power-sharing, the DUP warned yesterday.
Party leader Arlene Foster accepted there was a part for independent mediation in helping break the 20-month impasse at Stormont.
Mrs Foster, who met Prime Minister Theresa May in London, said the party felt there was a “role for facilitation”.
But she added: “We also believe the British must not subcontract their role because, of course, under the Belfast Agreement, until the people of Northern Ireland decided otherwise, the United Kingdom Government is in charge of Northern Ireland.”
Mrs Foster held a “detailed” meeting with the Prime Minister about decisionmaking in Northern Ireland in the absence of a ministerial Executive.
Secretary of State Karen Bradley has met the five main Stormont parties this week as she contemplates another push for agreement and is seeking their views about external facilitation. Mrs Foster said civil service decision-making should be quickly rolled out amid the political paralysis.
She added: “There is a whole range of decisions that need to be taken in Northern Ireland very, very urgently and we want to see that happening quickly.”
Asked about talks, Mrs Foster said the “first thing we have to get set in motion” is putting in place decision-making.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds added there must be a “full commitment to the continuing delivery of all the money that’s coming to Northern Ireland” under the confidence and supply deal.
Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’neill met Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in Dublin yesterday and said it was disgraceful an Executive was not in place.
She added: “The reason we have not had it is because of the British Government and their toxic relationship with the DUP.
“We have been fairly firm in the belief that all along their plan was to do nothing and now I am even more concerned because I believe their plan is to prevent the restoration of the Executive.”
Meanwhile, backers of Brexiteer proposals to resolve the border issue admitted they are “boring” and “nothing new” but offer a commonsense solution.
Former cabinet ministers and an ex-first Minister set out a blueprint they claim would allow the UK to leave the EU’S single market and customs union without the need for a hard border.
The European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories called for the Government to agree equivalence of UK and EU
LONDON YESTERDAY
regulations for the safety of agricultural products and allow Brussels inspectors into Northern Ireland to check their implementation.
Former Secretary of State Owen Paterson said there was “absolutely no need” for new physical infrastructure. Lord Trimble, a key figure in securing the Good Friday Agreement, insisted it was “completely wrong” to say Brexit undermined peace and risked violence. He said: “Here we have Brussels and [Michel] Barnier suggesting that Northern Ireland should no longer be part of the United Kingdom for the purposes of trade. That is contrary to the agreement, it is a breach of the agreement. If anything is likely to lead to instability, this is it.”
But Labour’s Alison Mcgovern, who supports the People’s Vote campaign for a fresh referendum, said the plans were “profoundly dangerous to the stability and security” of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.