DUP leader is being feted by the Conservative Party faithful as she appears at key conference events

The DUP leader has been a keynote speaker at a number of fringe events at the annual gathering of the Tory faithful, including a lunchtime meeting of the eurosceptic Bruges group yesterday.

The organisation is named after the Belgian city where Margaret Thatcher in 1988 made a speech critical of European expansion, before the European Union had even been formed out of the old European Community.

Mrs Foster was on a panel alongside Martin Howe QC, of lawyers for Britain, and the Tory MPs John Redwood and Mark Francois.

The former first minister’s first appearance was at a packed fringe event to discuss the Irish border backstop, held by the centre right think tank Policy Exchange on Sunday afternoon.

The room holding the event was packed to standing room, and the panel — Graham Brady MP, the ex Irish diplomat Ray Bassett, the Labour MP Kate Hoey and Mrs Foster — were all rapturously received for their criticisms of the backstop.

Ms Hoey and Mrs Foster implicitly criticised the PSNI for warnings about violence in the aftermath of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, rather than emphasising that officers would suppress any such terrorism.

Ms Hoey was met with applause and cries of ‘hear hear’ when she said that it made her “so angry” to think that the future of UK policy and economy might be dependent on a “few criminal dissidents”.

The crowd was similarly delighted when Mrs Foster said the police should make clear that they were going “to get these people” if they used violence.

Mrs Foster said that she had not supported the 1998 Belfast Agreement but had to accept that it was endorsed by a referendum “and move on to the next battle” and try to have input into its implementation.

She was, she said, “really saddened at [the EU’s attitude to the fact that] unionism doesn’t support the backstop”.

She added: “It gives no democratic say over rules imposed by the EU.”

Mrs Foster said: “No-one wants full infrastructure at the border. I grew up near the border.”

To further ‘hear hears’ the DUP leader told the crowd: “We cannot have an internal customs border.”

And in response to queries about her attitude to the prime minister, she said: “I have been asked about trusting Boris Johnson. I wasn’t ever asked about Theresa May — and frankly I should have been.”

The audience laughed and applauded that comment.

Kate Hoey similarly got laughs and applause when she told the event: “I’m glad the prime minister has called [the Benn Bill] a surrender bill. We know all about a no surrender bill.”

Ray Bassett was critical of the Irish government’s refusal to help David Cameron secure EU reforms ahead of the 2016 referendum, and then after the result its decision to ally itself fully with the EU rather than act as a mediator between London and Brussels and help the UK get a bespoke arrangement with Ireland after Britain voted for Brexit.

During the discussion, Mrs Foster acknowledged that she was more averse to ‘no deal’ than Ms Hoey, although the latter emphasised that her preference was also for there to be a deal.

Mrs Foster said that she believed that there could still be a deal achieved “even at this late stage”.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA was on the panel at another Policy Exchange event last night entitled ‘How can we strengthen the Union after Brexit’?