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BELFAST (Reuters) – The North Irish party, which backs British Prime Minister Theresa May's government, said on Saturday that it would vote against its Brexit withdrawal deal, which would have left Britain in a "pitiful place." pathetic".
Party President Arlene Foster has promised to reject the deal at the end of the Democratic Unionist Party's annual conference, in which members have applauded the proposal of May's main rival, Boris Johnson, to begin preparations for a Brexit "without agreement".
"We will vote against it if it is presented to parliament," Foster told Irish television RTE in an interview at the conference, in his most direct comments on the issue so far.
The May divorce treaty and the accompanying political declaration are due to be endorsed in Brussels on Sunday, as well as for the 27 other European leaders.
However, Foster's comments further complicate May's already strong challenge of getting enough votes to pass the agreement in parliament.
Dozens of members of his own party have said that they would not support the agreement and the Labor Party of the opposition plans to reject it.
While the 10 deputies of the DUP are subject to a "confidence and supply" agreement signed last year to support his minority government, Foster said they would not vote with the government and consider deleting the agreement if it was adopted.
The support provision of the withdrawal treaty could align Northern Ireland with the European Union more closely than the rest of the United Kingdom if no other means can be found to avoid a hard border with the Republic of the United Kingdom. # 39; Ireland.
Foster's pro-British party fears that this provision, if implemented, could one day threaten the province's position in the UK.
The backstop "will put Northern Ireland under the blaze of European Union laws, with no voice for anyone in Belfast or London (and will create) a trade border along the sea of Ireland ", said Nigel Dodds, Deputy Leader of the DUP, at the conference.
"The published withdrawal agreement describes a pitiful and pathetic place for the UK," he added, adding that he would be "locked in a European straitjacket, divided and diminished".
Comments were echoed by Johnson, who received enthusiastic applause from delegates, saying that Britain would be left as a "satellite state" by the agreement.
May said that the EU would not renegotiate and that Britain could face a Brexit "no deal" extremely disturbing if she did not accept it.
Foster said that to regain the support of the DUPs, May should withdraw the Irish protocol from the legally binding withdrawal agreement, which the EU has repeatedly said: it will not tolerate anything.
The issue of the Irish border should instead be included in the non-binding policy statement, she said.
If Parliament approves the May agreement, it will launch new negotiations rather than elections or another referendum, she said.
Earlier, Foster told the Times newspaper that a government led by Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn – a long-time supporter of Sinn Fein, DUP's rival – might be preferable to the deal.
Written by Conor Humphries; Additional report of Elisabeth O. Leary in Edinburgh; Edited by Clelia Oziel, Richard Balmforth
