Theresa May has been told that the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, is now “ready” to trigger a no-deal Brexit and regards this as the “likeliest outcome” following a “hostile and difficult” exchange with the EU’s chief negotiator, an explosive set of leaked government emails reveal.
Meanwhile, the former Brexit secretary David Davis has said May’s Brexit plans are “completely unacceptable” and urged cabinet ministers to “exert their collective authority”.
With continued speculation that Leave-supporting cabinet ministers could resign if May presses ahead with the plan to keep Britain in a customs union for the sake of an open Irish border, David Davis said: “This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times.” Writing in the Sunday Times, he said: “It is time for the cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.”
Foster emerged from a meeting last week in Brussels with Michel Barnier, the French official leading the EU’s negotiating team, convinced that the prospects for a Brexit deal were fading so fast that, given Brussels’ stance on Northern Ireland, an agreement had become the least likely outcome. Senior government advisers were swiftly informed that the DUP leader was “ready” for the UK to crash out of the EU without a deal.
According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the Observer, Foster had expressed deep disappointment about her meeting with Barnier, and outlined her wider thinking, during a dinner with the leader of the Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox. “She described Barnier as being difficult and hostile in her meeting today…” the leaked email from an adviser involved in the Brexit talks says. “AF [Arlene Foster] said the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one.”
The official added in his email, circulated at the highest levels, that it was not clear whether Foster was seeking to threaten the government or simply inform it of her plans.
Last week, the DUP, whose 10 MPs prop up May’s government, made it clear they would be prepared to vote down the budget this month, if the government pressed ahead…
