Foster letter to ministers on gay marriage revealed

into the Brexit talks, deliver the right outcome.

“That’s what she’s committed to, it’s what we all want to see happen, it’s really important for our country that that’s what happens.”

Labour are expected to put forward amendments to the Queen’s Speech, with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale saying the party was ready for another snap election in the autumn if they could defeat the government’s programme.

But she denied reports that talks were being held between opposition parties at Westminster over a deal to defeat the Conservatives, saying there was “no negotiation required” for smaller parties to back Labour’s amendments. The Scottish Government has published a written request from DUP leader Arlene Foster asking that it restrict gay couples from Northern Ireland converting their civil partnerships to same-sex marriages in Scotland.

The publication comes days after Mrs Foster said she had no recollection of sending such correspondence to the administration in Edinburgh.

The letter, written in September 2015 when Mrs Foster was Stormont finance minister, urged then Scottish local government minister Marco Biagi to exclude North- ern Ireland-based couples from legislation that enabled people in civil partnerships to convert those unions to samesex marriages.

Mr Biagi tweeted about the existence of the letter in the wake of the general election, amid increased Uk-wide focus on the DUP’S conservative stance on social issues such as gay marriage.

But in a radio interview last week, the former Stormont first minister denied sending such a letter.

In response to the publication, a DUP spokesman said: “This correspondence was exploring technical legal matters and was not personally driven by the minister.”