'Chaos' as loyalist Bryson tweets confidential meeting to the world

For over an hour, he continued to post information from inside the meeting.

The leak was quickly spotted – with Mr Bryson posting: “Meeting now halted. Anger that meeting is being live tweeted.”

Another tweet read: “DUP meeting descends into mayhem. JD saying texts being sent to Jamie Bryson who is giving a blow by blow account to the meeting.”

Mr Bryson then said that police officers were being accused by some of the delegates of texting Mr Bryson details – and that Sir Jeffrey Donaldson defended the officers.

But the leaks didn’t stop.

“[Sir Jeffrey] Says negotiations are over, and DUP aren’t going to get anymore. Says we have reached moment of decision.”

The DUP leader then apparently outlined the party’s next steps.

Another post from Mr Bryson read: “Meeting now halted. Anger that meeting is being live tweeted.

“DUP meeting descends into mayhem. JD saying texts being sent to Jamie Bryson who is giving a blow by blow account to the meeting.”

“MAYHEM in party Exec meeting. One DUP delegate accuses PSNI officers of being the leak.”

“JD defends police officers says ‘they are not messaging Jamie Bryson’”.

And on it went.

“JD resuming presentation. DUP enforcers now looking around the rooms.”

“JD says in response to Windsor Framework DUP consulted. Unlike any other party. Name checks Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster.”

Mr Bryson also claimed that contrary to media reports, the DUP party executive have not agreed to the deal, “but rather agreed to move to stage of informing party what is on table to then make a ‘collective decision’. No decision made to accept deal. “Trust me on this,” he said.

Mr Bryson then claimed the party chairman ordered guests to turn their phones off – that Sir Jeffrey said an ‘effort to block phone signals hasn’t stopped the reporting from the meeting’.

He said: “PSNI still being consulted by senior DUP HQ staff. They are trying to use technology to sweep the room.”

Aside from the extraordinary theatrics of such a key meeting being leaked to one of the party leadership’s fiercest critics, Mr Bryson revealed a lot of what he claimed Sir Jeffrey had told the party about what was in the deal.

This reportedly included:

l continuing checks and declarations on green lane but a reduction in checks;

l legislation to be published by the government;

l party officers met last week and agreed to the next stage of informing members on progress;

l an amendment to the UK internal market act;

l ‘constitutional legislation’ which Mr Bryson claimed “doesn’t do anything of substance. A complete fig leaf”;

l EU law will still apply.

In a cryptic statement posted on social media soon after, Mr Bryson said: “… to ‘the Raiders’: your country owes you, and the Union owes you. Your actions will never be publicly acknowledged, but you have my utmost respect”.

TUV leader Jim Allister posted: “At a time of secrecy and concealment of what ‘the deal’ contains and, more significantly, what it evidently fails to do, it is a public service to have the veil lifted by the Bryson Broadcasting Corporation!”

UUP leader Doug Beattie said: “This humiliating of the party and leader is not in the best interests of unionism.”

Alliance MLA Sorcha Eastwood called it a “carnival of disaster”, saying: “It utterly demeans our politics that the hopes of many are hinging on what can only be described as a tragi-farce.”

Ms Eastwood added: “I really hope we never have to repeat this grim farce again. Other political views than the DUP are available. Hard to stomach such endless wall to wall coverage of psychodrama whilst services crumble. Patience has run out. Nowhere else in UK or the south would this be tolerated.”