DUP

Stormont Consent-what does it mean?

| Readers 3642

Angela Merkel gave Boris Johnson 30 days to submit alternative proposals to replace the backstop. After a long wait (where it was speculated that the Prime Minister would merely amend the Withdrawal Agreement with tip-ex) the UK Government has finally submitted its plans. Spanning seven pages, Johnson’s proposals are a mis-mash of different ideas. All the hits you know and love are back. Remember Max Fac? It’s there. Nostalgic for Customs checks? Want a border down the Irish Sea? The …

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A case for pro-remain cooperation.

| Readers 1985

Over the past month we have heard about the impending election that seems to never be coming. Whether it is next year or in a few weeks there has been a debate not just locally but in other parts of the UK about some form of pro-remain cooperation taking place. Now, I know Alliance have ruled this out from their end and that is their right to do so. The Greens, Sinn Fein and the SDLP have expressed some sort …

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Boris’s bullying and bluster blinds him to the chance of agreement behind the sound and fury. He is his own worst enemy

| Readers 4344

This exchange will be remembered… Paula Sheriff Dewsbury, Lab I genuinely do not seek to stifle robust debate, but this evening the Prime Minister has continually used pejorative language to describe an Act of Parliament that was passed by this House. I am sure you would agree, Mr Speaker, that we should not resort to the use of offensive, dangerous or inflammatory language about legislation that we do not like. We stand here, Mr Speaker, under the shield of our …

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The Supreme Court decision may be momentous but does it change anything over Brexit? Can a ” government of national unity” unite the country around a New Deal altogether?

| Readers 2337

Supreme Court President Lady Hale  The Supreme Court decision is a constitutional big deal, but has it changed  anything  in the Brexit timetable?  The Conservative party with most if not all of the dissidents included will not overthrow Boris Johnson and plunge themselves into another leadership crisis.  The DUP will endorse that.  If  Johnson wants to continue slash’n burn, he challenges  Corbyn to an immediate general election tomorrow.  This means he’s compelled to abandon withdrawal “ no if’s  not buts …

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Arlene Foster and Leo Varadkar must do business together on Brexit after last night’s ice breaker

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The most important thing that Arlene Foster has just done is to talk to Leo Varadkar for the first time in ages. This was a meeting that was apparently kept under wraps until it had happened.  Only a short time before, the Dublin government were saying they were hoping for a meeting “soon.” This brief encounter  opens up the possibility of genuine north-south cooperation to help hammer out an agreement on the border – and perhaps the Assembly – that …

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Only if Johnson comes up with a firm proposal can the DUP’s true position be revealed

| Readers 7416

Despite Arlene Foster’s public denials, the Times stands by its story that  ahead of any return to Stormont ,the DUP would support the idea of the Assembly signing off on a deal to replace the backstop that would involve some ( no doubt de-dramatised) “checks in the Irish Sea” . This is based on the hope that DUP all-Ireland agreement on agri foods is only a stage on a journey rather than the final destination. It would mean the DUP …

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Now it’s two to one in UK courts declaring parliament’s suspension not a matter for the courts

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The Belfast Telegraph reports  A legal challenge in Belfast High Court that argued the Government’s Brexit strategy will damage the Northern Ireland peace process has been dismissed. Lord Justice Bernard McCloskey delivered his ruling on Thursday morning on three joined cases against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the UK’s European Union exit. In his written judgment, the judge said: “I consider the characterisation of the subject matter of these proceedings as inherently and unmistakably political to be beyond plausible …

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Backstop fever has subsided, but the virus is still live and it could spread…

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This must be the barmiest idea emerging from the current bout of backstop fever – an “exclusive” from Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News.    Boris Johnson has told government officials to explore the possibility of building a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.. The prime minister wants to know “where this money could come from” and “the risks around the project” – which appear to include “WW2 munitions in the Irish Sea…” The DUP, the party supporting the Conservatives …

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The imminence of direct rule underlines the fact that the SDLP are wrong not to back Margaret Ritchie as a member of the House of Lords

| Readers 2601

The SDLP still haven’t managed to shake off  strategic ineptitude. They’ve   achieved the worst of both worlds by wishing former SDLP leader and MP Margaret Ritchie well but “ fundamentally disagree” with her decision to go to the Lords. This is in fact an enlightened  move by Margaret which deserves SDLP backing. The SDLP attack Sinn Fein for persisting with abstention from the Commons when their voting presence might have made a difference in narrower Brexit votes.  The absence of …

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Will Arlene be confronted with an amended backstop today? How would she react? (No prizes!)

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I was watching the Commons feed last night and missed Nick Watt’s report on Newsnight, raising the hare  that Boris Johnson was  going further than an all-Ireland agri-zone and was about to revive the NI specific backstop.  Sam McBride of The Newsletter was watching. Last night’s report suggests that Mr Johnson may be preparing to abandon the DUP for the second time in six months, despite the party having ensured he became Prime Minister..  Newsnight said Mr Johnson was understood …

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Arlene Foster “we must engage with those of a nationalist background”

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DUP Leader, Arlene Foster spoke at an event titled Vision for Unionism: Beyond 2021. First, we must engage with any, and all, supporters of the Union, regardless of whether we hold fundamentally different views on party, policy or society. Today at this initial event, we talk amongst the DUP, but this is only the opening stage of this work and from this afternoon on, we must go out, talk and listen to other Unionists. We must find areas of common …

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Is the backstop beginning to slide towards a deal the DUP won’t like?

| Readers 10543

On the eve of Boris Johnson’s visit to Dublin it comes as no surprise that Sinn Fein claims that Leo Varadkar has conceded the backstop “at the eleventh hour.”  Deniable though it may be, do they yet make a plausible case, as the squeeze tightens on Dublin to try to reconcile the defence of the single market with the serious threat to jobs and the all-island economy? Does Vardakar’s concession on the one hand  that checks will be phased in …

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“This is our last chance to deal with the Troubles legacy”

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Academics who produced a critique of the Stormont House Agreement (Legacy) Bill have mounted a powerful defence of the Bill itself and their 100 pages of “tweaks” of it before the Commons NI Committee. The essence of their strong rebuttal of Ulster Unionist attacks is that their holistic approach acknowledges where the balance of responsibility properly lies for Troubles deaths. The Bill would replace a piecemeal approach to Troubles cases carried out by a reluctant PSNI which for some has …

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The Alliance Party surge could spell trouble for the DUP at Westminster

| Readers 9604

With a UK general election expected to be weeks away, local parties are bracing themselves for another round of elections, on what would be the eighth occasion that Northern Ireland has gone to the polls since 2015. Given that the Conservative government relies upon the DUP’s 10 MPs for their wafer-thin majority, the battle for Westminster in Northern Ireland is likely to receive more attention in Great Britain than historically has been the case. The big story of recent elections …

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#GE19 or #GE20: what to expect

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  With speculation mounting that we may see a general election either by the end of the year, or early in 2020 now feels like an appropriate time to look at the results of the 2017 Westminster election to remind us of the current state of play. Following a walking holiday in Wales at Easter 2017 Theresa May called a snap general election in order to give herself an increased, working majority in the Commons so that she could deliver …

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Foster; We welcome the decision to hold a Queen’s Speech marking the start of a new session of Parliament

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DUP Leader, Arlene Foster; “This has been the longest Parliamentary Session since the Union of England and Scotland in 1707. We welcome the decision to hold a Queen’s Speech marking the start of a new session of Parliament on 14 October where the Government will set out its new domestic legislative agenda. As outlined in the Confidence and Supply Agreement in 2017, the terms of that Agreement will also be reviewed in advance of the new Session. We originally envisaged …

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Don’t underestimate him. Boris Johnson is making a powerful appeal by defying party traditions, but at the expense of the Union

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Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

The cost of running: candidate spending in the 2019 local government election

| Readers 1418

Spending by candidates in the 2019 local government election is now available and when we delve into it, comparing candidate and party spend with the number of votes secured, a number of very interesting narratives emerge. The headline figure is that 819 candidates, representing 17 parties (plus 71 independents) spent a total of £650,140 in order to win 462 council seats. (It should be noted that there are only returns for 815 candidates as 4 candidates either did not make …

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An all-Ireland agri -food zone is old news and a sign of desperation. But first….

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Let’s start on a happier note. – Leo’s appearance at Belfast Gay Pride  in which he tactfully avoided grandstanding in his brief few words. “I had a real honour today to walk with Lord Hayward, who, along with Conor McGinn, put the legislation through the Commons and Lords to bring about marriage equality here in a few months’ time. So we really want to thank them. “What we see today in Belfast is Northern Ireland at its very best. Open, …

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A real test for Boris Johnson. Will he convene the Intergovernmental Council at a time when an open breach over Brexit seems imminent?

| Readers 3599

We are in worse confusion over Brexit than anything in modern times, short of total breakdown and conflict. On one side there is a withdrawal agreement that will never pass this House of Commons. On the other there is the persistence with a backstop that threatens an outcome it is designed to prevent. This is not a rational situation. And yet the train is on course to hit the buffers. Boris Johnson will have satisfied himself that he has gone …

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