Dodds: the DUP will play an important role in the next parliament

Unionist leader would back a Tory government if a tariff-free trade deal with the EU can be reached

Boris Johnson’s plans for a tariff-free trade deal with the EU would alleviate unionist concerns about the PM’s divorce settlement, the DUP leader has admitted.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Nigel Dodds said the gesture would “go a long way” towards gaining the DUP’s support, in a sign that their rift with the Tories over Brexit could yet be resolved.

Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal has set alarm bells ringing in Belfast as it would carve up the United Kingdom, with a trade border placed in the Irish sea that keeps Northern Ireland tied to many EU regulations, while the rest of the country would be free to set its own rules.

Before the election was called, the DUP voted down Mr Johnson’s deal, and intends to pile on more pressure for key changes if their support is required to form a government.

“There is no doubt that if we reach a tariff-free trade deal with the

European Union, that will eliminate the need for most if not all customs checks,” Mr Dodds said. “I sincerely hope that will be the case. It should certainly be the stated objective of the British government – and indeed the Irish government, to be fair.”

He added: “Certainly that would go a long way, in the long run, to alleviate most of these problems about checks.”

However, Mr Dodds warned that the party would also need a unionist veto to be included in the deal to ensure it had their backing.

The DUP’s electoral performance would have a major impact on Brexit negotiations in a hung parliament, as the party could once again put the Tories in government. But the DUP is facing tough challenges in North and South Belfast, where a pact of proRemain parties risks unseating Mr Dodds and Emma Little-Pengelly.

In a highly unusual move for the polarised world of Northern Irish politics, the SDLP have stood aside to give Sinn Fein candidate John Finucane a clear run in the north, while in South Belfast Sinn Fein has stood aside for the SDLP.

With the DUP also under pressure from the non-sectarian Alliance in East Belfast, the party could see its 10 MPs chopped down to only seven.

DUP sources stress that they are likely to win North Down following the departure of independent unionist Lady Hermon, which could mitigate any unpleasant surprises in Belfast.

And Mr Dodds was bullish when asked whether his party risks losing its grip on the Brexit process, as polls suggest Mr Johnson is on course for a strong majority. “One thing I am pretty certain about is that the DUP will still be an important player in the next House of Commons,” he said.

He also claimed that Mr Johnson failed to address the DUP’s concerns about the Brexit deal because he did not understand the complexities of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement.

In particular, Mr Dodds says he was “alarmed and frustrated” by Mr Johnson’s belief that the issue could be solved with a simple majority vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly, rather than parallel consent from both unionists and nationalists.

“When I asked him this in the House of Commons, he seemed somewhat bemused. ‘We had a majority in the referendum, why can’t we have a majority vote [in the Northern Ireland Assembly]?’

“If we’re going down that route there is a whole lot of things that we

‘A tariff-free trade deal would eliminate the need for most if not all customs checks’

could change about the Belfast Agreement at the stroke of a pen. But that was never agreed by the parties.”

He condemned the Remain alliance in Belfast seats as a “grubby sectarian pact” using Brexit as camouflage for an Irish unity campaign.

However, on the campaign trail in North Belfast, Mr Finucane said many voters were willing to set aside sectarian differences if the choice was between a Brexiteer and a Remainer.

“People in Northern Ireland feel Brexit has been imposed upon them, while Nigel Dodds has championed Brexit from the outset,” he said.

While Mr Dodds has attacked Sinn Fein for refusing to take their seats in Westminster, Mr Finucane says his party’s strength lies in influencing Brussels, Dublin and Washington – where senior figures have repeatedly backed Sinn Fein’s resistance to a hard north-south border.

“Brexit is coming and it’s not going to be stopped by turning up in Westminster. The power dynamic lies elsewhere, and what has been wired into the European strategy is that the North must be protected,” he said.

South Belfast is proving to be one of the hardest contests, where anxieties over Brexit could be the deciding factor: 69.5 per cent voted for Remain.