DUP leader Arlene Foster pours cold water on idea her party could shift on Brexit red lines

'We will not support any arrangements that create a barrier to East West trade'

DUP leader Arlene Foster has poured cold water on speculation her party was preparing to throw Boris Johnson a lifeline by shifting on some of its Brexit red lines.

In a blow to the embattled prime minister, Ms Foster said it was "nonsense" that the DUP would accept Northern Ireland abiding by some EU rules after Brexit in an attempt to replace the divisive Irish border backstop.

The unionist party - whose 10 MPs propped up Theresa May's government - is staunchly opposed to any Brexit outcome that would see Northern Ireland face different rules to the rest of the UK.

In what would have marked a major shift, The Times claimed the DUP had privately said it would drop its objection to regulatory checks in the Irish Sea, if Brussels agreed to abandon demands for Northern Ireland to remain in a customs union with the EU.

But Ms Foster tweeted: "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."

She added: "Anonymous sources lead to nonsense stories."

Sammy Wilson, the party's Brexit spokesman, also said the reports were "untrue" and "runs contrary to the position" both the DUP and the government have maintained.

However he said there had been a different tone in Brexit talks, telling the Today programme: "I think that there was a different attitude in the talks between the prime minister and the taoiseach at the beginning of the week and there seemed to be less rhetoric at those discussions from what there had been in the past.

"And I suppose that's progress."

Mr Wilson said his party wanted a Brexit deal, and argued there was support for alternative arrangements on the border.

He added: "And I think that, as the deadline approaches, the Irish government recognise the damage to their economy if they don't try and get some kind of arrangement with the UK.

"Because they have a significant stake in keeping the UK market open for their exporters."

Progress on Brexit has long been stymied by disagreements over the Irish backstop - a key part of Ms May's Brexit deal - which was designed to act as an insurance policy against a hard border on the island of Ireland.

It would have kept the UK tied to EU customs rules until a trade agreement could be made with Brussels, and Northern Ireland would also remain aligned to some additional EU rules to keep the border open.

But MPs rejected the withdrawal agreement three times amid major opposition to the backstop from Brexiteers and the DUP.

Mr Johnson has vowed to scrap the backstop, which he describes as "anti-democratic", but the EU has stood firm, insisting it must remain part of any Brexit deal.

The prime minister now faces an uphill struggle to try to secure an agreement with Brussels after MPs passed a law preventing no deal on 31 October and refused to grant him an early general election.