The UK’s Brexit secretary, David Davis, sounded more than a little plaintive when he suggested that MPs needed to `work together’ over the repeal bill which he published yesterday.
His intention is to effectively convert EU law into British legislation while allowing the House of Commons to introduce changes along the way.
However, Labour’s Keir Starmer has already made it clear that his party will not support the move in its present form, the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has predicted that `hell’ lies ahead for Mr Davis, and the Scottish and Welsh nationalists are equally preparing for a confrontation.
With a hard core of Conservative members who have always opposed Brexit also sensing an opportunity, Theresa May’s minority government is relying more heavily than ever on its allies in the DUP.
An increasingly direct spotlight is being placed in London on the general links between the Tories and the DUP and in particular on the bizarre circumstances in which the latter party received a massive donation from a shadowy pro-Brexit group last year.
The little known Constitutional Research Council (CRC) handed £435,000 to the DUP, most of which was used by the party to fund an ambitious four-page advertising supplement in the Metro newspaper urging readers to vote Leave in the EU referendum.
As has been well documented, Metro only circulates in Britain where the DUP has never fielded any candidates.
The DUP routinely ignores awkward questions from Belfast-based journalists but is looking more and more uncomfortable about the attention it is getting across the water.
Channel 4 News, a respected and high profile outlet, was plainly unimpressed when it covered the CRC issue earlier this week and, despite approaches over several days, was unable to find a single DUP figure who was prepared to explain the party’s position.
The announcement by the Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire that the details of political donations to the Stormont parties would only have to be disclosed from July 1 – thereby excluding the CRC’s involvement with the DUP – can certainly be expected to be placed under further close scrutiny.
It is striking that some prominent Conservative voices are expressing open concern about the implications of their party’s relationship with the DUP.
If the dissenting Tories grow in confidence, and exercise their influence as the debate on the repeal bill proceeds, then even the endorsement of the ten DUP MPs may not be sufficient to keep the legislation on course.
Mrs May’s Brexit strategy is already under intense pressure, and, with a range of deadlines looming, her prospects of survival with or without the DUP are very much open to question.
