'Dinner with DUP leader won't compromise my impartiality' PM says his focus is on Stormont revival

Boris Johnson has insisted a dinner with the DUP has not undermined his impartiality in efforts to restore Stormont powersharing.

The Prime Minister dined with DUP leader Arlene Foster and other senior party colleagues in Belfast last night (Tuesday).

The event came amid ongoing negotiations aimed at renewing the Conservatives' confidence and supply deal with the unionist party which is keeping Mr Johnson's minority Government in power.

The dinner in Belfast was organised ahead of Mr Johnson's first visit to Stormont as Prime Minister, where he is holding a series of meetings with the five main parties on Wednesday morning.

Critics have claimed the Government is unable to act as an impartial mediator in talks to restore the crisis-hit institutions due to the controversial Westminster deal with the DUP.

Mr Johnson denied a conflict of interest as he arrived at Stormont House on Wednesday.

"It's all there in the Good Friday Agreement, we believe in complete impartiality and that's what we are going to observe,'' he said.

"But the crucial thing is to get this Stormont government up and running again.''

Earlier, Mrs Foster maintained the confidence and supply deal had not been the focus of the dinner.

Mr Johnson said he was in Northern Ireland to concentrate on the devolution impasse.

"It's great to be here in Northern Ireland,'' he said.

"Clearly the people in Northern Ireland have been without a government, without Stormont, for two years and six months, so my prime focus this morning is to do everything I can to help that get up and running again because I think that's profoundly in the interests of people here, of all the citizens here in Northern Ireland.''

On Brexit, Mr Johnson said: "The crucial thing to stress is, I obviously attach huge importance to the letter, spirit of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and will be insisting on that.''

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government since early 2017, with hamstrung civil servants currently running under-pressure public services amid a reluctance by the Government to re-introduce direct rule.

Stormont's two main parties - the DUP and Sinn Fein - remain at loggerheads over a series of long-standing disputes, with a series of talks initiatives aimed at securing a resolution having ended in failure.

Mr Johnson's visit to Stormont comes amid deadlock in the latest talks process.

Families of people killed by the security forces during the Troubles are among those planning to protest on the Stormont estate while the prime minister is holding his meetings.

DUP leader Arlene Foster, deputy leader Nigel Dodds and party whip Sir Jeffrey Donaldson attended Tuesday's dinner with the Prime Minister.

The DUP's 10 MPs have propped up the minority Government since the 2017 general election - an arrangement that delivered a #1 billion boost in public spending in Northern Ireland.

New Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith did not attend the dinner, although he was at Stormont House on Wednesday morning to greet Mr Johnson.

The last DUP/Sinn Fein-led powersharing coalition imploded in January 2017 when the late Martin McGuinness quit as Sinn Fein deputy first minister amid a row about a botched green energy scheme.

The fallout over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was soon overtaken by disputes over the Irish language, same-sex marriage and the toxic legacy of the Troubles.

As he arrived today Mr Johnson was greeted by residents from the Irish border holding placards at Stormont.

Declan Fearon from Border Communities Against Brexit said they were protesting to tell the Prime Minister that it was "nonsense'' to believe that after a hard Brexit there would be no disruption to their daily lives.

He said: "We are certainly not going to sit back and allow it to happen.

"We are adamant that there can be no reinstatement of the border and the vast majority of people who live in this country want to remain in the customs union."

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Johnson had to stop being the DUP's "gopher''.

After their meeting with the Prime Minister, Mrs McDonald said his stated claim of impartiality was "laughable''.

"He tells us he will act with absolute impartiality, we have told him that nobody believes that,'' she said.

"Nobody believes that because there are no grounds to believe there is any kind of impartiality, much less strict impartiality.''

She said the confidence and supply deal had "poisoned the groundwater'' at Stormont.

"He asked for our advice and we have strongly advised him that to make progress here he needs to ensure that he is not the DUP's gopher, he needs to stop mollycoddling them, he needs to spell out the realities of life to them and put pressure on his unionist colleagues to ensure we can land on an equitable and sustainable agreement,'' she said

DUP leader Arlene Foster rejected criticism of the confidence and supply deal.

"Let me be very clear we are not going to apologise for delivering an extra #1 billion for the people of Northern Ireland,'' she said.

"The fact we have been able to help the health service, the education system, the fact we are putting £150 million into a broadband system which has now been procured. The fact we have helped with roads infrastructure.

"Not any other party that has stood before you today has delivered one penny of money for the people of Northern Ireland, we have delivered that through our confidence and supply agreement and we will continue to work for the people of Northern Ireland, regardless of their background.

"Don't forget this money goes directly to those people in services, through hospital care, we think that is something that should be celebrated and not denigrated in the way it has been done today."

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds poured cold water on the prospect of a border poll.

He said: "Leo Varadkar is in breach of the Belfast agreement by talking that up.

"The reality is that the conditions are not met and those who create this hysteria about it are actually running contrary to the agreement.

"Let's get real here, the idea that many unionists will turn around and vote for a united Ireland on the basis of the current developments, I think, is something that is not reflected in the reality of people on the ground."

• Boris Johnson
• Arlene Foster