DUP's Sammy Wilson denies approving Northern Ireland-only backstop solution - 'Untrue!'
DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson rejected reports his party would agree to a Northern Ireland-only backstop solution to the Brexit impasse as he laid out a new proposal for the EU.
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Mr Wilson's party was believed to be prepared to shift its red lines to allow Prime Minister Boris Johnson to unlock a Brexit deal. The Times reported the party would for the first time be prepared to accept Northern Ireland to remain obliged to abide by some European Union rules as part of an alternative solution to the backstop issue. It was also understood the DUP could be prepared to drop objections to regulatory checks in the Irish Sea that it previously rejected as it would “politically and economically” separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. But Sammy Wilson dismissed the claims branding them "untrue" and "unsourced".
Northern Ireland's largest political party on Friday said it would reject the imposition of EU regulations on the region under any British EU exit deal unless the local parliament was given the power to choose which laws to implement.
Mr Wilson told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "The only different arrangements that we will accept for Northern Ireland are those where the Assembly has total scrutiny of any EU legislation.
"In those situations, we will consider adopting appropriate legislation if we believe it is to the advantage of industry in Northern Ireland."
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There seemed to be less rhetoric at those discussions from what there had been in the past
However, Mr Wilson said he detected a different tone in Brexit talks, stating: "I think that there was a different attitude in the talks between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach at the beginning of the week and there seemed to be less rhetoric at those discussions from what there had been in the past.
"And I suppose that's progress."
It is believed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the plans with Republic of Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Monday, with the latter’s approval being a prerequisite for European leaders to take the proposal seriously.
The Government is also set to turbocharge its negotiating team with a Whitehall source saying: “There is an acknowledgement in Downing Street that if they can’t get an election, they need a deal.”
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Mr Johnson twice called for a snap election and won both votes but due to a plethora of MPs abstaining he was unable to get the two-thirds majority he requires under the terms of the Fixed Terms Parliaments Act.
Tory MP Nigel Evans, previously Deputy Speaker, and currently Executive Secretary of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, said it was crucial any new deal has the support of the DUP.
He insisted the party “won’t be thrown under the bus”, describing them as the Tories “sister party in Northern Ireland”.
The Tory Party previously had links to another unionist party in Northern Ireland.
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Between 1905 and 1972, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) took the Tory whip in the Commons.
The Tories and the UUP then formed an alliance in Northern Ireland again for the European elections and Westminster elections under the name “Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force”.
However, the sole UUP MP Sylvia Hermon stood for the 2010 general election as an independent and the UUP won no seats resulting in the label no longer being used.
Mr Evans explained: “If Boris Johnson gets something from the EU, which satisfies the DUP, then I can see a lot of Labour MPs supporting that.
"But we must look at all pragmatic solutions to this particular issue."