Dup

Oh dear. Although Karen Bradley has only been in her new job as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for just over a week, she has already managed to ruffle a few feathers. Unfortunately for her, those feathers belong to the all-powerful DUP. It’s been reported that in a sit down with written press this morning, Bradley indicated that ‘release of the £1 billion from DUP/Tory confidence & supply deal at Westminster is contingent on ministers being in place at Stormont’. However, this is news to Nigel Dodds – the DUP’s Westminster leader. He has taken to social media to voice his concern that this is ‘not correct’: Hasn’t anyone told

Unfortunately for Theresa May, her working lunch on Monday with Jean-Claude Juncker didn’t work when it came to agreeing ‘sufficient progress’ with Brussels. However, as the Prime Minister works to solve the negotiations deadlock with the DUP – and subsequently the EU, she can at least find some light relief in the abundance of Maybot sketches now doing the rounds. In a sign that Theresa May is making an impression on Americans, May made a special appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend – with Kate McKinnon doing her best Maybot impression: Should that one not appeal, Tracey Ullman’s Theresa May is also a strong contender for best Maybot.

So it turns out there is something Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party fears and loathes more than the possibility of a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. They would be prepared to sink Theresa May and her government to prevent even the remotest prospect of a border being introduced in the middle of the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Which is why the prime minister has to be quadruply clear that any regulatory alignment she offers to the EU to prevent the re-establishment of a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic has to be alignment that applies clearly and equitably to the whole of

Trouble in paradise? After the DUP voted with the government last night to ensure they won a crucial vote that gives the Tories a majority on key committees which scrutinise legislation, today the Conservatives got a taste of what it’s like to really be in the minority. In the opposition day debate on NHS pay, the DUP boldly backed a Labour motion demanding the Government give public health workers a ‘fair pay rise’. The Tories, aware that they didn’t have the numbers to win this vote, abstained. While it’s slightly embarrassing for the government to lose a vote, the motion was not binding – and it did not breach the £1bn

The Pride Wars are now a fixed feature of LGBT politics. Lefties attack the event for being too corporate and apolitical. Tories, not always made welcome by other marchers, complain it’s too political and not inclusive of ideological diversity. You could perform a few stonings beside the Queers for Palestine stall and still be more welcome than Jews waving Stars of David. Intolerance never went away, it just rebranded as intersectionality. Emma Little-Pengelly, the MP for Belfast South, sent a tweet to coincide with Belfast Pride on Saturday: ‘Best wishes to all my friends & constituents celebrating today – all should be able to live a proud life free from

The question of what kind of border after Brexit will exist between Northern Ireland and the Republic will, I predict, become a very thorny one indeed as negotiations crawl into the autumn. Talk of ‘putting the border in the Irish Sea’ — somehow leaving the north inside the EU for customs and immigration purposes, but cut off from European funding — was a red herring that provoked DUP tantrums, but more significant was the weekend outburst from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. As far as his government is concerned ‘there shouldn’t be an economic border… and we’re not going to help [the British] design some sort of border that we don’t believe

There are three areas on which the EU insists that the Brexit negotiations must make progress on, before proper trade talks can start: the so-called divorce bill, the rights of EU citizens in the UK and the Irish border. Today, the Irish PM said that no progress had been made on this issue, that the Brexiteers had had 14 months to devise a plan and hadn’t come up with anything adequate. Implicit in the Taoiseach’s speech is a threat to block the start of trade talks this autumn. If Dublin doesn’t think any progress had been made on the border question, the European Commission is highly unlikely to recommend to

Theresa May’s decision to announce plans to launch an inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal on the day she ‘reboots’ her leadership, has been read by many as a sign of her growing weakness. With no Tory majority in sight, the Prime Minister today issued a plea to other parties to contribute – before giving way on an issue that the opposition parties are united on. But before one gets too carried away by the new power wielded by the likes of Labour, is it actually just the same old? Mr S was intrigued to note that the DUP earlier in the week backed an inquiry into the scandal. This meant – that with

On this week’s episode, we talk about the myth of the British decline, theTwelfth of July parades in Northern Ireland, and the regrettable rise of the man hug. First, Britain seems to be relapsing into another bout of ‘declinism’, writes Professor Robert Tombs in his Spectator cover piece this week. From terror attacks to the Grenfell tower disaster, election upsets to our looming Brexit, the news is being seen by some as a sign of Britain’s downward trajectory in the world. It’s time to snap out of it, says Robert, who joins the podcast along with Fraser Nelson. As Robert writes: “Britain is more secure from major external threat than for half

Talks to form a new power sharing executive in Belfast have broken down again.  Largely this is because James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has been unable to impose a believable deadline after which he would enforce direct rule. This is a particular shame, because shaking the magic money tree in the direction of Northern Ireland could, with some skilful diplomacy, have the effect of resetting Stormont talks. From the collapse of the power sharing executive in January, up until last week’s Confidence and Supply Agreement between Arlene Foster’s DUP and Theresa May’s Conservatives, Sinn Féin briefly held all the cards. It could sit back as the institutions collapsed, blame the DUP’s (chiefly Foster’s)

This first week back in Parliament has proved quite how fragile the government’s power is. It may be able to govern in a technical sense – announcing bills, occupying Downing Street, and so on – but it cannot guarantee that it will get what it wants in the Commons. Having to accept the Stella Creasy amendment on free abortions for women from Northern Ireland shows that, but this is just the start of a legislative free-for-all in which MPs from all parties are able to propose changes to any bill ministers put forward, and know that they stand an unusual chance of success. It just takes a handful of Tory

In the face of a possible rebellion over an amendment to the Queen’s Speech, the Government has backed down. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced this afternoon that women from Northern Ireland will be given the right to an abortion in England on the NHS. This wasn’t a change ministers wanted, but for a weak minority Government propped up by the slenderest of margins, this is the new reality. It’s unlikely this will be the last time in this Parliament that ministers relent where they would have once stood their ground. Ever since the amendment was tabled by Labour MP Stella Creasy, the Government had looked under pressure. There were reports that as many as 40 Tory MPs

What a very different atmosphere the House of Commons Chamber will have today for its first PMQs since the election. In the week before Parliament dissolved, Tory MPs were in a most obsequious mood, reciting the ‘strong and stable’ slogan that Theresa May started her campaign with, and even telling the Prime Minister that ‘I am confident that the country will be safe after the election under strong and stable leadership’ (sadly Peter Lilley, who made this prediction, stood down at the election and so is not in Parliament to offer his insight into how he feels about the state of the country now). It will be interesting to see

It would be hard to describe Theresa May’s post-election, premiership as anything other than weak. But, weirdly, this weakness is turning into something of a strength as I say in The Sun this morning. No one in the Cabinet thinks that May can recover sufficiently to lead the Tories into the next election, so no one is in a huge rush to replace her. May is also helped by the fact that there would have to be a leadership contest if she went. ‘No candidate is reconcilable with both Leave and Remain’ laments one Cabinet Minister who has explored whether a coronation would be possible. With no appetite for a