Brexit deal: DUP leader Arlene Foster sends Boris Johnson to 'naughty step'
The Northern Ireland party's leader calls for UK ministers to be "clear and honest" and to reopen negotiations with the EU.
Saturday 26 October 2019 16:37, UK
DUP leader Arlene Foster has urged Boris Johnson to renegotiate his Brexit deal after her party sent the prime minister "to the naughty step".
The Northern Ireland party are fiercely opposed to the withdrawal agreement struck between Mr Johnson and the EU earlier this month.
The DUP's 10 MPs voted against both the deal and the timetable for implementing it in UK law last week; with defeat on the latter issue prompting the prime minister to "pause" the passage of Brexit legislation through parliament.
Mr Johnson addressed the DUP conference last year, but no senior Conservative was due to speak at the party's gathering this year.
Delivering her keynote speech on Saturday, Mrs Foster said: "Rather than have Boris with us today we have had to send him to the naughty step in parliament twice in the last week."
She added: "On Brexit, we will not give support to the government when we believe they are fundamentally wrong and acting in a way that is detrimental to Northern Ireland and taking us in the wrong direction.
"We will oppose them and we will use our votes to defeat them."
Demanding "change" to Mr Johnson's Brexit deal, Mrs Foster reiterated her view that the current agreement will be "bad for Northern Ireland economically and will weaken the foundations of this great United Kingdom".
The DUP leader also suggested there had been UK government confusion over the impact of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, as she called for ministers to be "clear and honest".
She said: "The Brexit secretary [Stephen Barclay] says there will not be Northern Ireland to Great Britain paperwork, then he says there will.
"The prime minister says there will not be checks, but then we are told there will be.
"Now we are told it can be sorted by a joint committee with the EU."
:: Listen to the All Out Politics podcast on , , ,
The DUP were also opposed to former prime minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which Mr Johnson renegotiated in recent weeks with Brussels.
Outlining her criticisms of Mr Johnson's Brexit deal, Mrs Foster added: "Furthermore, the east-west checks as proposed would lead to excessively bureaucratic burdens for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and consequently higher prices and less choice for consumers."
Having paused his efforts to get his Brexit deal passed by parliament, Mr Johnson is set on Monday to make his third attempt to get MPs to back his call for an early general election.
And, signalling the DUP might support the prime minister's latest bid to take the UK to the polls, Mrs Foster said: "This party is ready for any general election that may come.
"Make no mistake, this will be the most unpredictable election outcome in the United Kingdom for a generation."