Staging an emergency press conference in Belfast, Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, ruled out accepting any move “which separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the United Kingdom”. The warning comes as a deal appeared close in Brussels under which the UK would allow Northern Ireland to maintain “regulatory alignment” with the EU.
Ms Foster did not directly repeat the DUP’s threat last week to pull the plug on the deal that props up the Prime Minister in No 10.