DUP threatens to vote against May’s Budget

Party considering radical move if the prime minister crosses their lines on Brexit deal

Democratic Unionist MPs who prop up Theresa May’s government are preparing to vote against her Budget if the prime minister breaks their Brexit red lines.

The radical move is one of the options being considered by the DUP if attempts to nail down a deal with Brussels include any proposals that would leave Northern Ireland being treated differently to the rest of the UK.

Losing the party’s support in the Commons would mean possible defeat on the Budget and a no-confidence vote.

A DUP spokesman said: “The government is well aware of our position on this issue. Our position hasn’t changed and we don’t expect the government will change its position.”

The development came as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson warned that a “backstop” arrangement for Northern Ireland being negotiated by the government would leave the UK “a permanent EU colony”.

In a series of tweets, Mr Johnson said that the deal would keep the UK in the customs union and Northern Ireland in the single market, and would mean increased checks on goods travelling

The government is well aware of our position on this issue. Our position hasn’t changed and we don’t expect the government will change its position. DUP SPOKESMAN

between the province and the British mainland.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told a business audience in Brussels that agreement on a withdrawal deal was “within reach” at the crunch October 17-18 summit of the European Council, with “80-85%” of the accord now finalised.

But he made clear that the EU envisages a deal involving new customs and regulatory checks on goods travelling from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland, including health and sanitary inspections for 100% of animals and animal products arriving in ports like Larne and Belfast from the rest of the UK.

Downing Street insisted that defeat on the Budget would not amount to a vote of no confidence in the government under the terms of the legislation which provides for fixed-term, five-year parliaments.

“The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act sets out the circumstances for a confidence vote,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Mrs May urged MPs across the Commons to act in the national interest and back a Brexit deal amid warnings that “decisive” progress is needed in the negotiations before a crunch Brussels summit next week.

The prime minister urged MPs to do their “duty” to implement the result of the Brexit referendum as she struggled to maintain discipline within the Tory ranks.

It was Mrs May’s first appearance in the Commons since last month’s Salzburg summit, when EU leaders told her that her Chequers blueprint for Brexit would not work.

Picture: Getty Images. Talks on the Irish border are thought to be at a crucial stage.