Theresa May Suffers Major Blow As DUP Refuses To Back Brexit Deal

But on Thursday, Irish premier Leo Varadkar made clear that while he was “happy to offer reassurances and guarantees to the UK” over the temporary nature of the backstop, they could not “contradict or change” the agreed legal text of the agreement.

A spokesperson for European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also said the leaders of the EU’s remaining 27 countries “have been very clear that it will not be renegotiated what is on the table”.

The backstop provides a fallback option of a customs union to maintain a soft Irish border if the UK and Brussels cannot agree a trade deal. But Tory Brexiteers and the DUP fear it could trap Britain in a permanent customs union, leaving it unable to negotiate its own deals around the world.

The DUP also has concerns about extra checks on trade between the province and the rest of the UK, and said the Brexit deal “flies in the face of the government’s commitments” not to draw a de facto border down the Irish Sea.

Following lunch at Number 10, Dodds said Ireland’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit showed that talk of a hard border with Northern Ireland was “nonsense” because no one wants it, or is willing to construct it.

Referring to the backstop, he added: “With this clarity emerging in London, Dublin and Brussels, there is evidently no need for the aspects of the withdrawal agreement which have been so vigorously opposed by a broad cross section of the House of Commons.”

Dodds went on: “Brussels must now demonstrate that if it truly cares about Northern Ireland, then erecting a new east-west barrier should be no more palatable than having any new north-south barriers.”

Varadkar said Irish and British government officials would be speaking by phone on Friday and it would be followed up with “direct contact” with May as needed.