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Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, has returned to London to try and finalise a deal to prop up Theresa May’s minority Government.
Ms Foster is expected to meet with Mrs May at Downing Street on Monday morning to try and hammer out the terms of an arrangement which would see the DUP’s 10 MPs back the Prime Minister on key votes.
It comes just days before the House of Commons will vote on the contents of Mrs May’s Queen’s Speech which sets out her legislative plans for government.
Theresa May, the Prime Minister
Mrs May does not currently command a majority in the Commons after leading the Tories to a disastrous set of general election results making the deal with the DUP crucial to allowing her to cling to power.
However, the striking of the deal has been delayed with the two sides at loggerheads over the issue of money, with the DUP demanding at least £750million in extra spending in Northern Ireland.
But Ms Foster told Sky News on Monday that she now hopes a deal can be signed off and made official.
She said: “We are back in London again and my hope is that we will be able to finalise the agreement between ourselves and the Conservative Party.”
Arlene Foster and Theresa May meet on July 25, 2016 Credit: Charles McQuillan
When asked what the reason was for the deal having been delayed, she said: “As the Prime Minister herself has said the deal will be public, it will be totally transparent and once we conclude the deal that will happen.”
Theresa Villiers, the Tory former Northern Ireland Secretary, said she believed Ms Foster’s return to the capital showed a deal was close to being done.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that is an indication that we are close to some form of an agreement on the confidence and supply between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party.”
(YAHOO)
