Northern Ireland party demands revised EU divorce deal

NORTHERN IRELAND’S Democratic Unionist Party says it won’t be bullied into backing Prime Minister Theresa May’s “toxic” European Union divorce deal, increasing the odds against the agreement getting passed in Parliament.

The party’s Brexit spokesman wrote in a piece published by national newspaper The Daily

Telegraph on Tuesday that DUP lawmakers won’t support May’s withdrawal agreement with the EU unless it is amended to address concerns it could tie the United Kingdom to the bloc indefinitely.

Party spokesman Sammy Wilson said extending Brexit negotiations by one year would be preferable to “volunteering to be locked into the prison of the withdrawal deal with the cell door key in the pocket of Michel Barnier”, the EU’s chief negotiator.

The DUP controls 10 crucial votes in the House of Commons, and many hard-line Brexit supporters may follow the party’s lead when deciding how to vote.

The European Parliament’s top Brexit official says that “we see for the moment a real Brexit revolt” in the United Kingdom.

Guy Verhofstadt said on Tuesday that he felt especially encouraged by the vote in the House of Commons seizing more control over the stalled Brexit process and setting up a series of votes this week that could dramatically alter the course of the UK’s departure.

Verhofstadt said that “it is possible now to work in Britain towards a cross-party alliance,” adding that “I hope it will lead to a proposal that can be backed by a majority” in Westminster.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC on Tuesday that the government won’t “pre-commit” to accepting the option backed by lawmakers.

Hancock says lawmakers should support the prime minister’s agreement because “the best way through this impasse is the one deal that’s been negotiated with the EU.”