Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demands to know what is in Tory deal with the DUP
JEREMY Corbyn is demanding details of the deal the Tories are striking with the DUP to form a minority government, calling it a “nonsense situation”.
The Labour leader also called for a date for the Queen’s Speech, saying it “was the very least we need to know”.
He said Labour was “united” and “ready” to form an alternative government.
DUP sources say an announcement on a deal with the Conservatives has been delayed because of the Grenfell Tower blaze which has so far claimed six lives.
They said the two parties were now finalising the “terms and conditions” of an agreement after Mrs May and DUP leader Arlene Foster met on Tuesday.
But they added that the London tower block fire made an announcement on Wednesday “inappropriate” and diary commitments meant a final deal could be delayed until next week.
If a deal was to be delayed it would mean the Queen’s Speech, which had originally been planned for next Monday, could be delayed by at least a week.
It could also delay the start of Brexit talks.
The Conservatives are having to rely on the support of 10 DUP MPs after they fell eight seats short of winning an overall majority at the general election.
It means that Mrs May will remain as prime minister and the DUP MPs will be central to the survival of a Conservative Party administration.
Mrs May is to meet the leaders of Sinn Fein, SDLP, UUP and Alliance on Thursday in a bid to allay fears a deal with the DUP will undermine the peace process.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has had talks with Tory leader Theresa May about propping up her government
Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance have all said Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire cannot chair the ongoing process to restore power-sharing at Stormont due to their perception he has a conflict of interest.
Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill said: “I will be making it very clear that any deal between the Tories and the DUP cannot be allowed to undermine the Good Friday and subsequent agreements.”
In addition to Sinn Fein, whose seven MPs will not take up their seats at Westminster, Mrs May will meet representatives from three Northern Irish parties who did not win any seats at the general election – the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Alliance Party – in separate meetings at Downing Street.
Labour has joined former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major in expressing concern that deal with the DUP will undermined the “rigorous impartiality” the UK government is meant to demonstrate under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Corbyn is also calling on the government to end the “nonsense situation” of the public knowing what kind of deal was on the table.
He said: “We want to know what is in the deal they are offering to the DUP and we want to know when it is going to be put before Parliament. We still haven’t been given a date for the Queen’s Speech.”
He said Parliament “could not function until it is formally opened and I think the very least we need to know is when that is going to happen”.
He added that Labour was “ready as a strong, united party with a clear programme of what we want to offer to the British people to improve their lives and end this miserable period of austerity”.
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