AFP, Belfast :
Opposition to a draft Brexit deal due to be approved by EU leaders will dominate a conference on Saturday of the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish party whose support is vital to Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and Brexit plans.
Britain’s former foreign minister Boris Johnson, a staunch critic of the deal, will be attending – along with Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, which is at the heart of a row that could also undermine Sunday’s EU summit.
The DUP has propped up Prime Minister Theresa May’s government ever since an election in 2017 in which her Conservatives lost their majority and were forced to turn to the right-wingers for help.
But that support is hanging by a thread over the party’s opposition to May’s draft deal with the European Union, which it believes will lead to a different economic status for the British province compared to the mainland.
All eyes will therefore be on Belfast for the party’s annual meeting, where British finance minister Philip Hammond, who backs May’s deal, is also expected, highlighting the central role the DUP now plays.
