Irish border plan is a ‘complete nonstarter’, says DUP leader Foster

‘There will be no border of any kind down the Irish Sea’

THERESA MAY’S latest plan to resolve the Irish border impasse has been torpedoed by Arlene Foster after she described it as a “complete non-starter”.

Mrs May hopes to resolve the issue of the Irish backstop by expanding regulatory checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea, though she continues to rule out doing the same for customs. But the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) last night warned that any attempt to implement a regulatory border in the Irish Sea would bring about the collapse of the parties’ confidence and supply agreement.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mrs Foster said proposals for a regulatory “border down the Irish Sea” would damage Northern Ireland’s economy and harm it “constitutionally”, adding that it was a clear red line. “Let me be very clear about that, because I think there have been some people speaking about ‘oh well with customs everything will be across the UK, but with regulatory alignment terms we can do something there’,” she said.

“It would not be acceptable to me as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, and certainly it would damage the economy. That’s just of course a complete non-starter.”

Her comments were echoed by Nigel Dodds, the DUP’S Westminster leader, who warned Mrs May that the party’s 10 MPS could join Jeremy Corbyn in the voting lobbies if the province was forced into a post-brexit arrangement that differs from the rest of the United Kingdom. “There will be no border of any kind down the Irish Sea – customs, regulatory, political, constitutional or otherwise,” he added.