Sammy Wilson: DUP will vote against Theresa May’s deal 1,000 times if that’s what it takes

Although the DUP has always strongly opposed the backstop in Mrs May’s deal, the party’s position had shifted over recent months to finding ways of lessening the impact or duration of the backstop - rather than removing it entirely.

That had led to talks with the government and speculation - which the DUP denied – that consideration was being given to more money for Northern Ireland in exchange for the DUP’s 10 votes.

But, after the breakdown of those talks and the DUP’s decision to vote against the deal again last Friday, now Sammy Wilson has spoken out in terms which suggest he has no intention of ever voting for the agreement.

In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, the former Stormont finance minister dismissed government warnings that there was a threat to the Union if the DUP do not support Mrs May’s deal.

The East Antrim MP said that it was “the withdrawal agreement which is the real threat to the Union” because it would separate Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

He said: “We will not change our mind this because the implications are such that it would really destroy the Union.

“That’s why we have been resolute; that’s why we laugh in the face of these kind of threats that we get from John Major and David Gauke today – if they looked at the real threat to the Union, it’s the withdrawal agreement, not voting against the withdrawal agreement.”

Mr Wilson said: “Our message to the prime minister is: Do what you should have done at the very start and what you promised you would do – only sign an agreement which treats Northern Ireland the same as the rest of the United Kingdom.”

He said that if Mrs May does not change her mind then the DUP would continue to oppose her deal even if she brought it back “a hundred times”.

He then added: “She could bring it back a thousand times – we will vote against it because the implications for Northern Ireland are far, far too serious.”

Mr Wilson said it was illogical for the EU and Dublin to claim that only the backstop could prevent a hard border after Brexit, when in recent weeks Leo Varadkar has repeatedly claimed that even in the event of a no-deal Brexit – with no backstop agreed – there will be no hard border on the island.