THERE’S A POTENTIAL dispute brewing in the UK’s Conservative party at the prospect of a minority government deal with the DUP.
Theresa May has said she will work with the Northern Ireland unionist party to allow her form a government after her party lost their parliamentary majority.
It’s led to an intense focus in the British media on the DUP’s policies, among them the party’s staunch opposition to same-sex marriage rights.
The party has repeatedly blocked marriage equality for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland. It did so in 2015 despite a majority of members voting in its favour.
While Conservatives MPs have broadly backed May’s decision to seek the support of the DUP, the party’s leader in Scotland has reaffirmed her commitment to LGBT rights.
This afternoon Ruth Davidson tweeted a link to a speech she delivered in Belfast promoting LGBT rights.
Davidson has previously spoken publicly about her intention to marry her Irish partner Jen Wilson in Ireland and the pair make regular public appearances together.
In the 2016 Belfast speech she linked to this afternoon, Davidson spoke about her partner:
I am engaged to a Catholic Irishwoman from county Wexford who was educated by nuns. For me, equal marriage isn’t about one religion or county or community. It is about the people of Northern Ireland being afforded the same rights as everybody else.
Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives had a very successful election yesterday, winning 13 seats in Scotland, the most for the party since 1983.
Boris stays where he is
Elsewhere, it was confirmed by Downing Street that May was keeping her senior ministers in the same positions they held before the election.
This includes Philip Hammond who stays as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Amber Rudd who stays as Home Secretary and Boris Johnson remaining as Foreign Secretary.
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