Sources suggest it would be inappropriate to make formal announcement because of unfolding tragedy at Grenfell Tower

An announcement of a deal between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist party to form a minority government is expected to be delayed until next week following the calamitous fire that has engulfed a tower block in west London.

Any delay would mean the Queen’s speech, originally planned for Monday, could be put back by at least a week, and could also interrupt the start of the Brexit talks.

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s resurgent leader, demanded that the government discloses the details of the deal, describing it as a “nonsense situation”.

Theresa May needs the votes of the 10 DUP MPs to prop up her minority administration as she hopes to steer government business, including crucial measures on Brexit, through the Commons.

Following three days of talks between the DUP and the Tories, Westminster sources said it would be inappropriate to make a formal announcement because of the unfolding tragedy at Grenfell Tower.



Sources close to the talks said there was “broad and general agreement” on what the deal will look like. “It is at the technical details stage,” a source said. However, it was looking “highly unlikely” that any deal will be completed before next week.

Another source indicated that it was also on hold because ministers wish to consult with Sinn Féin and other Northern Irish parties on Thursday over the resumption of the power-sharing agreement.

The leaders of Sinn Féin, the UUP, the SDLP and the Alliance party will meet the prime minister in Downing Street, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Some have claimed that the terms of DUP deal, expected to increase the public money invested in Northern lreland, could be used to reform the executive in Stormont.

Corbyn said the delay was unacceptable. “We want to know what is in the deal they are offering to the DUP and we want to know when it is going to be put before Parliament. We still haven’t been given a date for the Queen’s speech,” he said.

The leader of the opposition said parliament “could not function until it is formally opened and I think the very least we need to know is when that is going to happen”.

Both the DUP and the Tories had hoped that a deal would be announced on Wednesday. The DUP’s leader, Arlene Foster, and MPs Nigel Dodds and Jeffrey Donaldson, have been locked in talks in Westminster for two days with senior Tories including the chief whip, Gavin Williamson.

The former prime minister Sir John Major has suggested it will be difficult for the government to act as an honest broker in talks to restore the power-sharing agreement in Belfast if it enters into a deal with the DUP to prop up a Conservative minority government in Westminster.

On Tuesday afternoon, Foster indicated that a deal was close to being finalised.

She also gave a glimpse into the issues on the table, saying Brexit, counter-terrorism, and “doing what’s right” for the Northern Ireland economy were among the key issues being thrashed out.

A senior Conservative source said: “We are making a lot of progress, it’s all being done in the spirit of cooperation, with a real focus on strengthening the union and providing stability at this time.”



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A Conservative source said there was so far no deal to announce and that a decision on the timing of any announcement would have to wait until an agreement was finalised.



Ministers have indicated that the Queen’s speech may have to be set back from its scheduled date of next Monday, 19 June, because of the ongoing negotiations.



May is coming under intense pressure to change her approach to leaving the European Union, with predecessors David Cameron and Sir John Major among those suggesting a softer stance with a greater effort to seek a consensus.

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, is preparing to fight for the UK to remain within the EU’s customs union, which could safeguard jobs and trade with EU members but would severely restrict the UK’s ability to strike its own trade deals around the world.



At a joint press conference with May in Paris on Tuesday night, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, suggested that the door was still open for the UK to remain in the EU.



“Until the negotiations come to an end, of course there is always the possibility to reopen the door,” said the president. “But let us be clear and organised and once the negotiations have started we should be well aware that it’ll be more difficult to move backwards.”

The DUP was seeking to make the new government’s policies “more compassionate” across the UK, party sources said. They said the DUP was attempting to dilute austerity measures and defend things like the triple lock on pensions.

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The DUP wanted to secure a deal that not only could benefit Northern Ireland but also people in England, Scotland and Wales, they said.

Among the Northern Ireland-specific issues raised by the DUP was a special corporation tax status for the region, possibly at a 12.5% rate.



This is similar to the Irish Republic’s tax regime, which has successfully attracted foreign direct investment to Ireland. The DUP has described the 12.5% rate as a “gamechanger” for Northern Ireland.

The last government insisted that if Northern Ireland was awarded a lower corporation tax the price would be reductions in the UK Treasury’s block grant of billions into the local economy. The sources said the DUP was asking that this Treasury condition be erased as part of the deal.

The message coming out of the DUP on Wednesday appeared to be addressing two audiences. The first was the wider UK population, with the prospect that the DUP could help soften the blows of austerity across the union.

The second appeared to address the other Northern Irish parties, but most importantly Sinn Féin, 24 hours before roundtable party talks resume in Belfast aimed at restoring a devolved government.



The DUP is arguing and will argue during the Belfast discussions that the national deal with May and the Tories will bring dividends to Northern Ireland, which a restored power-sharing executive can distribute and manage from Belfast.

