The deputy leader of the DUP said on Friday he would rather see the UK stay in the European Union than back the withdrawal agreement.
Nigel Dodds, a Brexiter, urged the government to return to Brussels to demand changes that would make the border backstop acceptable to parliament.
Insisting the withdrawal agreement would undermine the union, Dodds said the EU’s resistance to amending the deal must be challenged by Theresa May.
“I think it would be actually better staying in the European Union than living under this withdrawal agreement, which would mean you would accept all the rules of the European Union, pay in all the money, but have no say whatsoever,” he told LBC radio.
Dodds said his party had “consistently and repeatedly” made it clear it will not support the deal until the contentious backstop protocol is changed.
Reacting after May’s withdrawal agreement was defeated for the third time in the Commons, Dodds said: “We have reached this view from a principled position, as we do not believe the withdrawal agreement is the best way forward for the United Kingdom.
“We have said that were the backstop to become operational, Northern Ireland would sit in a separate legal position from the rest of the United Kingdom in economic and trade terms.
“In those circumstances, there is the strong possibility that we could have a long-term outcome whereby Northern Ireland would inevitably pull away from its biggest trading market in Great Britain as there would be new internal barriers within the United Kingdom.”
It is thought that May could try to bring back her deal to parliament yet again next week despite the continued opposition of the DUP.
However, despite Dodds’ comments, the Daily Telegraph reported that some of the DUP’s MPs were considering switching to support her deal.
Any renegotiation of the backstop with Brussels appears unlikely.
The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, was one of several European leaders who have underlined that there will be no more movement from the EU on the issue.
On Friday night, he tweeted: “The European council has agreed unanimously that the withdrawal agreement will not be reopened.”
