DUP

A DUP minister has said she would not oppose an EU/UK deal on agri-food movement similar to the one the bloc has with Switzerland. Stormont economy minister Diane Dodds she would not be against anything that offered “short-term relief” from recent Irish Sea trade disruption. However, Dodds expressed doubt about whether the UK government would […]

A senior Tory MP has ridiculed Boris Johnson’s plans for a 25-mile undersea tunnel connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland – calling for ministers to focus on the issues surrounding the Brexit deal instead. The tunnel – dubbed the ‘Boris Burrow’ – could cost £10 billion to create and was seen as a compromise to a […]

Michael Gove has been urged to show his unionist credentials by standing up for fishermen and Northern Ireland after Brexit, after admitting that the UK was facing a number of “obstacles” after Brexit. The Cabinet Office minister acknowledged the “bureaucratic obstacles” to negotiate and navigate with Brussels, as he was pressed to support “retaliation” against […]

A DUP MP has denied “race-baiting” and has refused to apologise after suggesting the number of black people on an edition of Songs Of Praise was “the BBC at its BLM (Black Lives Matter) worst”. Gregory Campbell said no-one raised any issue with the remarks he made on his Facebook page for days after he posted them […]

A DUP MP has been referred to the Westminster Standards Commissioner following a Facebook post in which he criticised the “BBC at its BLM worst” (Black Lives Matter) over the ethnic make-up of a Songs of Praise gospel show. East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell made the comment in a January 31 post. It stated: “Just watched […]

Calls have been made to scrap part of the Brexit deal relating to Northern Ireland, as the prime minister warned Brussels he will act to prevent trade barriers being put up in the Irish Sea. First minister Arlene Foster said the Northern Ireland Protocol risked the country’s “political and economic links” to the UK and […]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested to the House of Commons he could invoke Article 16  “to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea” after Brexit. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, DUP MP Ian Paisley said people in Northern Ireland were being made to “feel like foreigners in our own country” by […]

The DUP has strongly rejected suggestions it should have supported Theresa May’s Brexit deal, which would have provided a backstop and avoided the creation of the Northern Ireland protocol which was part of Boris Johnson’s agreement. Lord Dodds told the Belfast Telegraph: “Some people have mistakenly suggested that if Theresa May’s backstop had been accepted, we […]

The Northern Ireland secretary has urged MPs not to “overstate” issues at the border which have led to supply issues in supermarkets.  Brandon Lewis said that whilst there have been “challenges” to overcome in the first few weeks since the end of the Brexit transition period, “goods are moving” to and from the island. Responding to […]

Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots has claimed the region’s hospitals and schools risk running out of food when post-Brexit Irish Sea trade arrangements are fully implemented. A grace period that limits the level of red tape required to move retail food products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland runs out at the end of […]

A leading DUP Brexiteer has claimed that Boris Johnson has “screwed over” Northern Ireland with Brexit. MP Ian Paisley criticised the prime minister’s comment that empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland are down to “teething problems”. Paisley told MPs: “What did we do? What did we do to members on those benches over there to […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been reminded that he once claimed that Unionists should listen to the words of the DUP before deciding how they would vote on any Brexit deal, as he looks set to break the commitment. In March 2019 he claimed that he could not vote for a deal “under any circumstances” if the […]

The DUP has joined a majority of Northern Ireland’s MPs in saying it will not vote for Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The Democratic Unionist Party announced its eight MPs will vote against the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU in the House of Commons when it is recalled on Wednesday. An […]

A Brexiteer MP has claimed that a 49% drop in positive coronavirus cases in Londonderry was not down to an increase in lockdown restrictions. Appearing on BBC Good Morning Ulster, Sammy Wilson, DUP MP, pointed to a spike in his constituency eight weeks ago which he said was remedied through a targeted intervention at a meat […]

A Brexiteer MP has been found guilty of breaking the minister’s Code of Conduct, a Commons standards committee has found. DUP representative Ian Paisley Junior failed to declare funding towards a luxury family holiday to the Maldives in 2016. Parliamentary commissioner for the Standards in the House of Commons committee Kathryn Stone also rejected claims the trip has […]