If you have no idea who the DUP are, read this. TL;DR: The Conservatives are allying themselves with a Northern Irish far right party with extremist links because they need 8 more seats to form a government - DUP can give them 10.
Conservative talks with the DUP are ongoing. They will have one week to come to an arrangement before the Queen's speech, which will mark the formation of the new government. If an agreement is not reached in that time, my only guess is that there will be another election. An election could be called quite quickly due to there being a time limit on Brexit negotiations. An agreement with the DUP is not a foregone conclusion for the following reasons:
- The DUP are going to ask for all sorts of things. They will be fully aware that they could probably ask to fist Theresa May outside Number 10 and she would immediately produce a small tub of lube.
- Conservative MPs are not happy, and some may do anything they can to stop this coalition from happening. The openly gay Scottish Conservative leader has already voiced concerns, some have publicly admitted May will not last 6 months and one MP is quoted as saying "We all fucking hate her. But there is nothing we can do. She has totally fucked us".
- Sinn Fein and the Good Friday Agreement.
If you are not familiar with Sinn Fein, they are the other main party in Northern Ireland. I am not an expert on Irish politics, but the basic gist is that Sinn Fein and the DUP hate each other, and they have both been in/supported by opposing militant groups.
The Good Friday Agreement is basically the legal framework that split Northern Ireland away from Ireland and made it into a part of the UK. One of the terms of the agreement is as follows:
"...the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and shall be founded on the principles of full respect for, and equality of, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, of freedom from discrimination for all citizens, and of parity of esteem and of just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos and aspirations of both communities."
What this means is that Northern Ireland can govern itself to a certain extent, but it answers to the UK government. It also states "the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality". This means that governing parties within Northern Ireland should not be given unfair representation within the government that has jurisdiction over it - the UK government.
It is for this reason that Sinn Fein actually refuses to take their seats in the UK parliament. The Conservatives are now trying to incorporate their rival party into the UK government, and Sinn Fein is (quite rightly) saying that this is a breach of the Good Friday Agreement.
Theresa May called for "certainty" and "stability" in her "victory" speech, yet she is compromising the stability of Northern Ireland by breaking legal agreements and setting two parties with militant links against each other.
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