The arithmetic looks daunting for Johnson, after he opted to press ahead and sign up to a deal even after the DUP issued an early morning statement saying it could not support the government’s position.
Later, when the text of a reworked withdrawal agreement was published by the European commission, Arlene Foster’s party issued a more strident statement saying the agreement “drives a coach and horses through the professed sanctity of the Belfast agreement”.
Without the DUP’s 10 MPs, Johnson is likely to need the support of some Labour MPs and the 21 Conservatives he expelled from the parliamentary party for backing the Benn act last month.
Asked what he could offer to Labour MPs, he pointed to the “level playing field” assurances in the rewritten political declaration – the part of the deal relating to the UK’s future relationship with the EU. But senior government officials had earlier made clear that the assurances were similar to those that would be included in any standard free trade agreement. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/17/boris-johnson-plays-the-numbers-game-after-getting-his-brexit-deal
