We could work with Miliband, says DUP deputy leader Dodds

The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (DUP) could strike up a post-election deal with Labour, according to their deputy leader, Nigel Dodds. Although the DUP are seen as a right-wing party, Dodds believes there is enough common ground between the two parties to strike up some sort of deal in a hung parliament.

Dodds certainly appears to be on manoeuvres; he has floated the idea of working with Labour in interviews with both The Guardian and New Statesman.

According to George Eaton in the New Statesman, Dodds stressed how the DUP could work with either Labour or the Conservatives, and would make the decision based on what they believe would be best for the country:

“We can do business with either of the two leaders, either Ed Miliband or David Cameron, and we will obviously judge what’s in the best interests of the United Kingdom as a whole.”

He pointed out there was a precedent from the 1970s when the “Ulster Unionist Party propped up the Callaghan administration”, and that the DUP are “certainly in a position where we’re able to negotiate with both” of the two major parties.

While he claims that his party “are not interested in a full-blown coalition government with ministerial positions”, he does highlight policy areas where they could offer support for Labour, including strengthening defence, tightening immigration laws and abolishing the Bedroom Tax. That the right wing unionist DUP have had power sharing agreements with the left wing republican Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland Assembly might have convinced Dodds that deals with unusual sources can be successful.

In The Guardian, Dodds claims that he spoken to Labour MPs who are concerned about the possibility of a deal with the SNP, and are in favour of working with the DUP. He says:

“MPs in both main parties, including Labour, have said they would be comfortable working with us as they have done in the current parliament. We, for example, joined Labour in our opposition to the bedroom tax, which the DUP successfully kept out of Northern Ireland.

“There are some people in the Labour leadership keeping open the possibility of doing deals with a nationalist bloc but there are plenty of others in the Labour party including MPs who I speak to who feel that that would be a catastrophic step for them and also wrong for the union to do such a deal. Imagine a government of the UK propped up by people who want to break up the UK.”

Two weeks ago, rumours surfaced of a potential coalition deal between Sinn Féin and Labour, although the reports were rubbished by Sinn Féin MPs.