UK Prime Minister Theresa May risks destabilising her minority government if she concedes to Ireland’s demands on the Northern Irish border question in the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
Sammy Wilson, one of the ten DUP MPs in May’s minority government, said that any compromise that would leave Northern Ireland “half in” the EU risked collapsing the DUP deal.
“If there is any hint that in order to placate Dublin and the EU, they’re prepared to have Northern Ireland treated differently than the rest of the UK, then they can’t rely on our vote,” Wilson told the BBC.
The warning has added pressure on May as she urgently seeks to make progress in the Brexit negotiations. She is due in Brussels on Monday (4 December) for a meeting with EU President Jean-Claude Juncker, where she is expected to submit final UK positions on Ireland, the Brexit bill and citizens’ rights.
Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, told the Irish parliament: “We are looking for significantly more clarity than we currently have from the British negotiating team,” adding that “constructive ambiguity” would not suffice if May wanted to make progress at the EU leaders summit on Dec 14-15.
The Irish government has demanded “written assurances” that Northern Ireland will not seek to diverge from EU rules and regulations, effectively granting a “special status”, which would not be free to embrace the UK’s newly independent trade policy after Brexit.
