DUP tells Tory Brexiteers ‘reject the deal and we will not bring down Government’
Party accuses May of ‘bad faith’ and says it will withdraw support if exit agreement goes through
THE DUP has assured Brexiteers it will not bring down the Government if they reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal next week.
Nigel Dodds, the DUP Westminster leader, told a meeting of Tory Brexiteers last night that his party would support the Government in a confidence vote if the draft Withdrawal Agreement is thrown out by Parliament.
However, it will withdraw its support if Mrs May’s deal goes through – wiping out her working majority in Parliament and raising the spectre of a general election.
Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, attended the meeting of the ERG group of Conservative Brexiteers in an indication of the Government’s desperation to avoid defeat.
Last night Mr Dodds warned Mrs May that there would be “implications” if her deal “squeaks” through Parliament next week. While he refused to say whether the party could continue to work with Mrs May, he said the draft Withdrawal Agreement is “not one that honours the spirit of the confidence and supply agreement and certainly not one we can support.”
Asked if he believed that a vote of no confidence in the Government could be tabled, he added: “That’s the risk that the Government runs at the moment. That’s the risk that the Prime Minister is running.
“But even before we get to the point of calling a general election, what I would say to the Government and any Conservative MPS who may be thinking of voting for this: even if this vote squeaks through, how do they get the Withdrawal Bill through after that?
“How do they get all the other legislation that needs to get through the House of Commons? You don’t actually have to call a general election without realising how difficult this would [make] the Government’s position.”
After Mr Dodds had met with Jacob Rees-mogg, chairman of the ERG, Mr Rees-mogg told the ERG meeting: “The DUP will support the Government in a confidence motion if the Withdrawal Agreement is voted down. But the risk of losing them and having an election is if the Withdrawal Agreement goes through.”
It came as Mrs May held talks with MPS about promising a veto on the Brexit backstop as a last throw of the dice to rescue her deal. Downing Street said the Prime Minister has had “productive” discussions with Tory rebels about the possibility of amending next week’s vote to give Parliament the final say over whether the backstop comes into force.
With just six days left to salvage the deal, Mrs May has also held conversations about an alternative plan for the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU to be conditional on Britain having a unilateral exit from the backstop.
The deal Mrs May agreed with Brussels specifies that the whole of the UK will enter into a customs arrangement with the EU if no trade deal has been agreed by the end of the transition period, which is set for Dec 2020 but could be extended for up to two years.
The purpose of the backstop is to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, but opponents argue that Britain could remain tied to the EU forever, with no way out, under the terms of the agreement. The Government’s legal advice on the Withdrawal Agreement, published yesterday, reinforced the belief that Britain will not be able to pull out of the backstop unilaterally.
The DUP and Tory Brexiteers are also unhappy that the backstop would involve two different customs regimes in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, creating a customs border in the Irish Sea.
Among those Mrs May has met is Sir Edward Leigh, a Tory Brexiteer, who has tabled an amendment to next week’s vote which calls for MPS to be given a veto over whether Britain enters into the backstop arrangement.
His proposal would mean that at the end of the transition period, if no trade deal had been agreed, MPS would be given a vote on whether to leave the EU without a deal or enter into the backstop arrangement while negotiations continued.
Mrs May has also met Tory Brexiteer John Baron, who has proposed amending next week’s vote to include a demand that Britain can unilaterally pull out of the backstop – something Mrs May would have to negotiate with the European Union.