British Prime Minister Theresa May neared a deal with a Northern Irish Protestant party to save her premiership on Tuesday but faced a tug of war over her Brexit strategy just days before embarking on formal divorce talks with the European Union.
Talks between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party were continuing on Wednesday amid reports that any announcement of a deal may be delayed because of the tragic fire in a London tower block.
However, this turmoil does not appear to have deterred May, who intends to lead Britain into talks with European Union figures next week, while back home she tries to arrange a minority government deal with Northern Irish party the DUP.
"Delay to deal with DUP means likely postponement of Queens speech; and possibly Brexit talks", BBC political reporter Norman Smith said on Twitter.
It has opposed the proposed Conservative-DUP liaison on the grounds that it would undermine the government's ability to act as a "honest broker" in disputes between Northern Ireland's parties.
A Conservative source said there was so far no deal to announce and that a decision on the timing of any announcement would have to wait until an agreement was finalised.
Since her gamble on a snap election failed a week ago, May has come under pressure from some in her own party to change her approach to Brexit talks.
After IndiGo, AirAsia, Jet, GoAir, Vistara ban this MP for unruly behaviour
No citizen or a legislator should resort to pushing staff or hammering on a machine. "Law will take its own course", Raju said. Despite this, the MP has flown to France and other European Union regions for a holiday, a report by TOI said on Saturday.
Major warned that although Northern Ireland was a long way from returning to the violence that killed 3,600 people, he believed the peace process remained fragile almost two decades after a US -brokered 1998 peace agreement.
She has already met with the DUP to seek a deal to support a minority Conservative government.
"Look at what the Tories (Conservatives) have managed to do to the United Kingdom in the space of just one year, firstly calling a divisive and reckless European Union referendum. then having lost that gamble pursuing a hard Brexit path", Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said.
The move comes after Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond on Thursday canceled a speech in which he was set to make the case for protecting jobs and economic growth rather than controlling immigration.
"We stand at a critical time with those Brexit negotiations starting only next week - I think that stability is important".
May made clear the Brexit negotiations would begin next despite uncertainty.
Major said he sympathised with May and her need to shore up her position, but he urged her to consult more widely on her approach to Brexit, saying he thought the so-called hard Brexit was "increasingly unsustainable".
Comments