At first glance, the DUP leader Arlene Foster’s denial of this morning’s story in The Times about potential concessions to unlock a Brexit deal looks pretty unequivocal.

“Anonymous sources lead to nonsense stories,” she wrote on Twitter. “UK must leave as one nation. We are keen to see a sensible deal but not one that divides the internal market of the UK. We will not support any arrangements that create a barrier to East West trade.”

Unpick her comments, though, and it quickly becomes clear that they are a classic of the genre of a non-denial denial.

This morning’s story reports that the party would accept Northern Ireland abiding by some EU rules after Brexit as part of a new deal to replace the controversial