DUP says it
cannot support Boris Johnson's Brexit deal
PM’s
proposed deal suffers another blow as party objects to customs and VAT terms
Latest
Brexit developments – live
Matthew
Weaver
Thu 17 Oct
2019 09.44 BSTFirst published on Thu 17 Oct 2019 08.10 BST
The
Democratic Unionist party is threatening to scupper the Brexit deal that Boris
Johnson is on the brink of agreeing with the EU.
On the
morning of a crucial EU summit in Brussels, a joint statement from the DUP’s
leader, Arlene Foster, and her deputy, Nigel Dodds, explicitly says the party
cannot support the deal that is close to being finalised.
The pound
fell 0.5% against the dollar and the euro within minutes of the announcement.
The DUP
statement said: “As things stand, we could not support what is being suggested
on customs and consent issues, and there is a lack of clarity on VAT.”
DUP
✔
@duponline
⬇️⬇️⬇️
The
statement will come as blow to the prime minister, who hopes to bring back a
deal from the Brussels meeting and then secure the backing of parliament in a
rare Commons vote pencilled in for Saturday.
The backing
of the 10 DUP MPs is crucial for the success of that vote because many
Conservative Brexiters have indicated they will not back a deal that is opposed
by unionists.
Steve
Baker, the chair of the hard Brexit European Research Group, said he was
optimistic the group would back a deal. But he also suggested the ERG could not
support it if Johnson failed to secure the backing of the DUP.
Peston
✔
@itvpeston
“If the DUP
are happy, it’s not for us to gainsay” @SteveBakerHW confirms that the ERG will
take their lead from the DUP on Northern Ireland. #Peston
The DUP
statement added: “We will continue to work with the government to try and get a
sensible deal that works for Northern Ireland and protects the economic and
constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.”
Johnson has
met Foster and Dodds three times in the last three days as he tried to shore up
their support before Saturday’s deadline to prevent a delay to Brexit.
Jean-Claude
Juncker, the European commission president, told Johnson in a phone call on
Thursday morning that time was short if leaders were to approve the Brexit deal
this week.
A spokesman
for the commission said: “Every hour and minute counts before the [European
council],. We want a deal.”
EU leaders
are meeting in Brussels in the afternoon for a two- day summit and Brexit was
due to be the first item on the agenda.
A senior EU
official said a legal text was yet to be shared among member states as Downing
Street had not given the green light. “Maybe we have a deal, maybe not”, the
official said. “We have somehow got used to it – we know when Brexit is on the
agenda we expect the unexpected.”
Discussions
on the tentative Brexit deal could now be pushed back to Friday to give Johnson
more time to win over the DUP.
The
official said: “Still today we don’t know how things will evolve. But I think
at a certain moment, if there is no legal text there will be someone who will
say: ‘A withdrawal agreement is an international treaty and my officials need
to read it before I approve it – this is an ancient tradition and I am not
willing to change it’.”
Johnson
would be given an opportunity to address the EU27 on the terms of the deal, if
it was secured, the source said. “We will have to consider our options in light
of the situation”, the official said in an acknowledgement that the issue of a
Brexit extension beyond 31 October was likely to be discussed.
The
official said even if a deal was given political approval at the summit, it
“may be impossible” to have it ratified before 31 October, given the complexity
of the treaty, the need for “legal scrubbing” and parliamentary scrutiny on
both sides of the channel.
The housing
secretary, Robert Jenrick, said on BBC Breakfast: “We know there are clearly
concerns on the part of the DUP and we want to try and work through these
productively in the hours to come.
“All sides
in this do want to secure an orderly exit from the EU, and I think one is in
sight, although there is clearly very significant issues to be hammered out.
Let’s wait and see.”
He said he
expected Johnson to go to Brussels to meet with members of the European
council.
Under the
so-called Benn act, if Johnson cannot get a deal passed by Saturday he will be
forced to seek an extension to the 31 October deadline for the UK to leave the
European Union.
The DUP is
digging in over the prospect of a customs border between Northern Ireland and
the rest of the UK, as well as the issues of consent regarding the suspended
Stormont assembly.
Another
significant issue is whether EU VAT rates would apply in Northern Ireland.
Johnson
told the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers a day before the summit that his
situation was like climbing Mount Everest, according to MPs in attendance.
The Brexit
secretary, Stephen Barclay, has confirmed that the PM will write a letter
asking for an article 50 extension if no deal is in place by Saturday.
This is
despite Johnson repeatedly ruling out asking for a further delay under his “do
or die” commitment to leave the EU by the current Halloween deadline.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário