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BBC

Arlene Foster: If backstop isn't removed, Brexit deal won't get DUP support

“Bin it, junk the backstop” – the hard-fought-for Irish assurance could be the reason the Brexit deal won’t be passed.

DUP LEADER ARLENE Foster has said that Prime Minister Theresa May will need to remove backstop provisions in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

If those references that would treat Northern Ireland differently than the rest of the UK in the absence of a closely-tied customs deal and trading arrangement, then the DUP will not vote in favour of the deal in the House of Commons in the coming weeks, she said.

But she also added that the DUP could consider a Norway-style deal as a way to prevent Northern Ireland being treated differently to the rest of the UK, in which the UK would join the European Economic Area and stay aligned to the single market.

“Well, there are conversations going on right across government,” she said when asked about that proposal.

Ten DUP MPs are supporting Theresa May’s government since a snap election following the EU referendum in 2016. In exchange for the DUP’s support, May promised €1.1 billion in extra funding for Northern Ireland. 

But if the DUP don’t get what they want from the Brexit deal, they could collapse May’s government and trigger an election in the middle of Brexit talks. 

Speaking on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show today, Foster said that as it stands now, the deal they have with May “is still alive”. 

But if it came to a situation where parliament did decide to back this deal, then obviously we will have to review the confidence and supply agreement.

Theresa May is going to have a tough job getting the Brexit deal through the House of Commons – this has to be done before the parliament recess on the 21 December.

As it stands now, she doesn’t have enough MPs to pass the deal through the House; reports earlier this year suggested she was trying to lobby Labour MPs to pass the deal.

When asked if there were any circumstances in which the DUP’s 10 MPs could vote for the deal, Foster replied: “No, there aren’t.”

As far as I can see there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of enthusiasm in the House of Commons for this deal, quite the contrary. So let’s wait until we get to that vote. I don’t see any circumstances at present where that vote will be a vote to go ahead in Theresa May’s favour.

Yesterday at the DUP’s annual conference, the former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, said that they should “junk the backstop”.

“Unless we junk this backstop, we are going to find that Brussels has got us exactly where they want us: a satellite state,” Johnson said.

Earlier, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said that it was time to “bin the backstop”.

The backstop aims to avoid a hard border between the Republican and Northern Ireland by keeping the North under some EU rules and regulations.

The DUP has criticised the plan as the party believes it threatens the integrity of the United Kingdom and could lead to a customs border in the Irish Sea.

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    Mute Stephen Todd
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    Dec 28th 2016, 3:22 PM

    The headline reads as if we’re flooded with SNAs when we could probably still do with more. It just highlights our severe lack of Garda resources

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    Mute Antoinette Mullen
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    Dec 28th 2016, 3:21 PM

    What is disappointing is the number that are full time posts. 13,000 plus SNA’s sounds great but a high number are working on fragmented hours from as little as 5-6 hours per week. That’s not a sustainable job.

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    Mute Louis Jacob
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    Dec 28th 2016, 5:04 PM

    Totally redundant point. It’s like saying there are more teachers than tram drivers. God I hate enda.

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    Mute Cranium
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    Dec 28th 2016, 4:06 PM

    What a pile of steaming horse manure. The propaganda is strong in this one.

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    Mute Michelle Dermody
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    Dec 28th 2016, 7:38 PM

    Not Every child who is entitled to an SNA receives one. They may receive “half of one ” as in part -time. Some SNA’s are forced to work around 3 or more children with very complex needs in schools and the reality is that they system becomes diluted and unefficient. A person csn not be in two places at once! So ENDA is lying again….

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    Mute Michelle Dermody
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    Dec 28th 2016, 7:41 PM

    The system , inefficient and can. Text predictor doesn’t help!

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Dec 28th 2016, 8:07 PM

    @Michelle Dermody:
    Don’t you mean that’s Enda’s fault as well?

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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Dec 28th 2016, 7:53 PM

    Totally misleading…..I would image a large number of those are not full time…years ago when I worked as a SNA, a Seno decided that two children in Junior Infants should share a SNA….so the SNA asked her this question ‘If there is a fire, which child will I pick up, the one with mobility problems or the one who will bolt because I cannot carry 2′..made no difference they still had to share the SNA….

    it s all just spin.

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    Mute David Thomas
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    Dec 28th 2016, 4:08 PM

    Now ye know who to call if anyone is burgled

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    Mute SteveÓ
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    Dec 28th 2016, 6:57 PM

    @David Thomas:

    Batman?

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    Mute Valthebear
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    Dec 29th 2016, 9:43 AM

    Actually being granted the services of an SNA for a child is very difficult and the process very arduous ans bureaucratic. More spin from the gov

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