The DUP thread

[imtommygunn]

It is hard to know where they go from here if they say no.

If they say no they are basically saying northern ireland can't work because we won't let it.

Some speculate a border poll if they say no however I doubt it.

[LeoMc]

It's a huge opportunity for Jim Allister to make his party the voice of Unionism. Donaldson has looked like a lame duck leader from day one and this fork in the road was coming. From a tactical perspective Allister has played him like a kipper. Its a given that Allister will reject the deal and subsequently LCC/OO/loyalist alliance so then its over to Jeffrey whose head must be spinning at the minute. I can't see him backing it and if he does he's probably toast.

The great minds of the LCC must have completed their assessment as Ian Og says the deal 'doesn't cut the mustard'

IanOg doesn't speak for the LCC, he and Sammy will take the same line as Farage, Banks and their Russian owners.
Jeffrey knows it is a good deal but he needs to see what way the wind is blowing.

[Jeepers Creepers]

Must be pressure from inside the party to say yes. It's ok for the MP's to waltz back and fourth to London on those wages and expenses while everyone else (MLA's) could be going back to their day jobs ?

[LeoMc]

It is hard to know where they go from here if they say no.

If they say no they are basically saying northern ireland can't work because we won't let it.

Some speculate a border poll if they say no however I doubt it.

Labour have said they will back the deal. England and to an extent the ERG want to "get Brexit done". The DUP are being offered a way out, a chance to trumpet a big win. However, for an image of the Stormont brake, imagine a toy steering wheel being handed to a child in the back seat so they can "drive the car, just like Daddy".

[AustinPowers]

Regardless of whether the protocol is  approved or not ,  the DUP's ego is huge (to them anyway), as they made the EU and  British government effectively  dance to their tune

They think they're more important than they really are.  Will they want to give all  this power up, slink back into the shadows , never to be seen or heard from  again?  I doubt it.

I don't think  they will approve this deal. So sooner or later , their bluff  has to be called . Be that, a border poll, joint rule  and/or closing Stormont , and the big wages that goes with it

[Armamike]

They're going to have to accept it.  There has been give and take between the UK and EU and that's the way these things work.  It's going ahead regardless so they will be left out in the cold if they come back with more demands. Countries like Switzerland and Norway don't have an issue with aligning with EU regulations.  It's what needs done if you want to trade fairly seamlessly with Europe.  Not doing so would turn this place into a bigger economic wasteland that it already is.  The dumb wits in the DUP either can't seem to grasp that, or they think it's a price worth paying for their idea of sovereignty.  It's ironic given their mantra over the years of nationalists not wanting this place to work.

[Armagh18]

Let's say the 17th Century says NO! to the "Windsor protocol"......
I highly doubt the EU and the Brits are going to tear it up and start all over again?

Yeah surely no more renegotiating now. As someone else as said, Rishi has played a blinder getting Charlie to look like he's backing it without openly backing it.

Charlie and Jeffrey's relationship is hardly the warmest either going by the reception in Hillsborough the time of his Ma's death.

It will be interesting how the DUP spin this as TBH their intransigence has earned some big compromises from the EU and a normal party would spin that as a serious win, but not Sammy fingers and Ian Óg, oh no, they're boxing Donaldson into a corner as this deal doesn't cut the mustard and looking to overplay their hand.

Sunak has binned their Protocol Bill, so this is the only show in town.

Yeah not sure where the Sammy and Ian Og want Jeffrey to go from here. You could let Allister write the deal himself and he'd still say no, it's just in them to.  I suppose at the end of the day it all boils down to the fact they will never go into Stormont under Sinn Fein. 

[RedHand88]

Let's say the 17th Century says NO! to the "Windsor protocol"......
I highly doubt the EU and the Brits are going to tear it up and start all over again?

Yeah surely no more renegotiating now. As someone else as said, Rishi has played a blinder getting Charlie to look like he's backing it without openly backing it.

Charlie and Jeffrey's relationship is hardly the warmest either going by the reception in Hillsborough the time of his Ma's death.

It will be interesting how the DUP spin this as TBH their intransigence has earned some big compromises from the EU and a normal party would spin that as a serious win, but not Sammy fingers and Ian Óg, oh no, they're boxing Donaldson into a corner as this deal doesn't cut the mustard and looking to overplay their hand.

Sunak has binned their Protocol Bill, so this is the only show in town.

Yeah not sure where the Sammy and Ian Og want Jeffrey to go from here. You could let Allister write the deal himself and he'd still say no, it's just in them to.  I suppose at the end of the day it all boils down to the fact they will never go into Stormont under Sinn Fein.

Jim said this yesterday. The deal was irrelevant, he said they still shouldn't allow a Sinn Fein 1st minister.

[NAG1]

The only thing that gives me any confidence that this is the game, is down to the fact that the Little- Englander ERG types appear to have run out of patience with the DUP and just want this done to move on.

So they may find themselves slightly under P to get signed up too it from their once allies.

[Eire90]

so Jim Allister is blatantly denying democracy  hes not even being veiled about it.

[Armagh18]

Let's say the 17th Century says NO! to the "Windsor protocol"......
I highly doubt the EU and the Brits are going to tear it up and start all over again?

Yeah surely no more renegotiating now. As someone else as said, Rishi has played a blinder getting Charlie to look like he's backing it without openly backing it.

Charlie and Jeffrey's relationship is hardly the warmest either going by the reception in Hillsborough the time of his Ma's death.

It will be interesting how the DUP spin this as TBH their intransigence has earned some big compromises from the EU and a normal party would spin that as a serious win, but not Sammy fingers and Ian Óg, oh no, they're boxing Donaldson into a corner as this deal doesn't cut the mustard and looking to overplay their hand.

Sunak has binned their Protocol Bill, so this is the only show in town.

Yeah not sure where the Sammy and Ian Og want Jeffrey to go from here. You could let Allister write the deal himself and he'd still say no, it's just in them to.  I suppose at the end of the day it all boils down to the fact they will never go into Stormont under Sinn Fein.

Jim said this yesterday. The deal was irrelevant, he said they still shouldn't allow a Sinn Fein 1st minister.

How the feck does he get away with it. Was he challenged at all on that? Have you link to that interview?

[RedHand88]

Let's say the 17th Century says NO! to the "Windsor protocol"......
I highly doubt the EU and the Brits are going to tear it up and start all over again?

Yeah surely no more renegotiating now. As someone else as said, Rishi has played a blinder getting Charlie to look like he's backing it without openly backing it.

Charlie and Jeffrey's relationship is hardly the warmest either going by the reception in Hillsborough the time of his Ma's death.

It will be interesting how the DUP spin this as TBH their intransigence has earned some big compromises from the EU and a normal party would spin that as a serious win, but not Sammy fingers and Ian Óg, oh no, they're boxing Donaldson into a corner as this deal doesn't cut the mustard and looking to overplay their hand.

Sunak has binned their Protocol Bill, so this is the only show in town.

Yeah not sure where the Sammy and Ian Og want Jeffrey to go from here. You could let Allister write the deal himself and he'd still say no, it's just in them to.  I suppose at the end of the day it all boils down to the fact they will never go into Stormont under Sinn Fein.

Jim said this yesterday. The deal was irrelevant, he said they still shouldn't allow a Sinn Fein 1st minister.

How the feck does he get away with it. Was he challenged at all on that? Have you link to that interview?

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/business/watch-for-yourself-interview-with-jim-allister-dup-seven-tests-leave-them-with-wriggle-room-but-even-if-they-accept-the-deal-there-should-be-no-return-to-a-sinn-fein-led-stormont-4043736

"As to whether the DUP should be going into Stormont at all, even if its Seven Tests are met, Mr Allister pointed to Sinn Fein's ongoing apologetics for the IRA, with the would-be First Minister Michelle O'Neill having declared recently that there was "no alternative" to republican paramilitary violence during the Troubles."

[93-DY-SAM]

Penny is dropping with Steve Baker and his ERG mates that the DUP, Alistair et al will only ever be happy with one thing and that is "There are unionists who would dig a moat between the North and the South, those unionists will never be happy.".

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Penny is dropping with Steve Baker and his ERG mates that the DUP, Alistair et al will only ever be happy with one thing and that is "There are unionists who would dig a moat between the North and the South, those unionists will never be happy.".

They would still moan that the moat isnt wide enough or deep enough, probably need too main taigs to dig it ffs

[yellowcard]

The big question today is why is Rishi Sunak claiming that we now have such a uniquely privileged position here in economic terms. After all his main audience is an English one so that raises massive questions as to the so called benefits of Brexit itself to begin with. It seems like it is the beginning of a change in policy from UK government when you hear this and the likes of Steve 'Brexit hard man' Baker having a road to Damascus moment. Sunak knows that he has seen off the threat of Johnson and he is now emboldened to pursue a closer relationship with Europe.