Brexit plan puts May's alliance with the party of Northern Ireland to the test

While her party was threatening revolt, the fate of Ms. May's Brexit package – and her own government – could weigh on a handful of lawmakers in the Democratic Unionist Party, a party of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland for decades. decades.

May got split support from her cabinet on Wednesday for a withdrawal agreement with Brussels that defines the terms of the divorce between Britain and the European Union. Senior officials of the DUP have expressed serious reservations about this deal, which would leave Northern Ireland more closely tied than the rest of the UK to the EU if a broader Brexit deal on relations long-term commercial and economic Britain could not be achieved.

May's team hopes to persuade the party to stay on board, assuring it that this so-called backstop will no longer be needed.

But losing the 10 legislators of the DUP would make it difficult, if not impossible, to get enough votes in Parliament to get approval for its withdrawal plan.

Ms. May has relied on the DUP to get a majority in Parliament since the 2017 elections. With an uncompromising Brexit faction in her ruling party, the Conservatives are almost certain to vote against her. She needs the support of the DUP to convince her. Without this, she must play on the opposition legislators.

The UK government has not yet published full details of the draft agreement, but lawmakers for the DUP have warned they would not support proposals leaving Northern Ireland more closely linked to the rest of Britain than the United Kingdom.

"It's a bad deal. It's a market she said never accept. I think a lot of people share that view in the House of Commons, "Sammy Wilson, DUP spokeswoman for Brexit, said Wednesday after May said the firm had backed her proposal.

"Our red line is, and always will be, that we do not want to be treated differently. We want to be treated as an integral part of the UK, "said Jim Shannon, one of the party's legislators in Parliament, during an interview. He said he and his colleagues were willing to vote against Ms. May's plan for Brexit.

The purpose of this system is to avoid the need for customs controls and other controls at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland if the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU on relations futures continued for years. London, Dublin and Brussels agree that maintaining a free and friction-free border is essential to preserve peace in a region that has been devastated by violence for decades.

The DUP's hostility to the proposal for support reflects the party's deep dislike of any political initiative that, in its view, dilutes Northern Ireland's status in the United Kingdom to sides of England, Scotland and Wales.

Founded in the early 1970s by Protestant fundamentalist preacher Ian Paisley, the DUP has been opposed for decades to attempts to share power between the British and Irish communities in Northern Ireland and to any involvement of the Republic of Ireland in Northern Irish affairs. Mr Paisley, who died in 2014, finally relaxed his position and, in 2007, led the DUP to the government of the Regional Assembly of Northern Ireland, alongside Sinn Féin, the former political arm of the Republican Irish Army.

The party, unusual in the UK for its socially conservative stances on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, agreed to lend its support to Ms. May in 2017 after a poor performance election has cost his party a majority in the United Kingdom. House of Commons of 650 seats. Northern Ireland has received additional funding for infrastructure, health and economic development and, in exchange, the DUP is committed to supporting Ms May on most, but not all, votes.

This "trust and supply" agreement is still in place, "said Downing Street, despite doubts expressed by the DUP regarding the draft withdrawal agreement.

Write to Jason Douglas at [email protected]