sinn fein MPs

how many do they have?

7 I believe.

DUP 10, Sinn Fein 7, Independent 1.

yes 7.......that's why the tories don't really need that much

thought MPs had to do so many days to get payed..............though I may well have made that up

Heard some Sage on the tv last night saying that by sinn fein not taking their seats that this actually helps the tories because it brings down the majority numbers needed and for every seat sf don't take the majority seats required comes down by a half. SF got 7 seats so majority needed comes down 3 and a 1/2.

they will love that...............helping a tory government

what if seni Fein took their seats

Worst possible result for the shinners with Arlene being in position of being kingmaker and sitting in cabinet or possibly even deputy prime minister.

power sharing deal in disarray so in their spare time holding the balance of power in the uk,you couldn't make this stuff up

effective majority is something like 18 when you take into sinn finn, the speaker and his deputies - 328 against 310

the sinn finn ceasefire must hold

DUP are like some far right american party coming down from the hills propping up the uk government,torys need to hgrow a pair and tell this woman to go , as she drags the party through the mud to hold power at any cpost

Amazing the IRISH holding power over the U.K.....

workrider.................ali g interviewed one of those DUP and asked him was he irish.........no I am british he said............he told ali g the joke about ian paisley and the crocodlies

Cardifffc, yes they most certainly call themselves British,but they live on the Island of IRELAND.

workrider/guys anyone born in Ireland before August 1948 IS both British and Irish. Because Ireland's lawful status was that of a Free State, but still a dominion of Britain with a sworn allegiance to the Crown.
Not a lot of people know that (Mickey Caine voice).

I did Boxingthefox, can't you just see Ian smiling down upon them.

Indeed, perhaps the 'Chuckle Brothers' are both having a good laugh.

Have DUP ever helped form a majority before with either LAB or CON?

gresty...........they used to be the tory party.............so an alliance with labour not likely

The DUP were never part of the Tories.

Sinn Fein MPs attending Westminster never going to happen

Sinn Fein attend meetings in London and parliament regularly, they may indeed have offices in the building.

some political commentator said this morning they were at one time the same party........think he said it used to be the conservative and unionist party.............I don't really know...........you could be right and him wrong

The Conservative Party, officially known as the Conservative and Unionist Party........wikipedia hth

Ulster Unionists had links with the Tory party in the past but not now.

Jun 9, 2017 -- 10:27AM, stickyvicky wrote:

The Conservative Party, officially known as the Conservative and Unionist Party........wikipedia hth

The UUP and the DUP are totally different parties and only the former was ever linked to the Conservatives , hth

Jun 9, 2017 -- 10:26AM, Ovalman. wrote:

Sinn Fein attend meetings in London and parliament regularly, they may indeed have offices in the building.

Yes  , i meant they can't/won't vote there or make speeches

My point is they use the facilities, take the wage and the perks that go with it. Bit cynical on their voters for them not have an influence which might help their cause.

Sinn Fein voters would presumably be outraged if their MPs actually voted

But happy enough for them to take the perks i guess

The UUP and the DUP are totally different parties and only the former was ever linked to the Conservatives , hth

Both are singing off the same hymn sheet

The Ulster Unionist UP was originally part of the Liberal Unionist party that Joseph Chamberlain formed when he split with the Liberals.

The Liberal Unionists eventually merged with the Tories which is where the Conservative & Unionist comes from .

That was 100 years ago

The UUP no longer have any seats.

The DUP was formed in the 60s/70s . Never been very friendly with the Tories from what i recall , especially when Enoch Powell was an MP. When there was a minority Labour government under Callaghan the DUP were propping up Labpur and it was the SNP that brought Callaghan down.

I think Enoch voted every time to keep Labour in office when he was DUP

Though he did have some personal bitterness towards the Tory leaders

Paisley never seemed to care for Tories either.

Maybe different now ,especially as May seems set to grovel to them

Interesting.
Didn't the Rev Ian start the DUP ? Threasa will take any unionist at this stage.

Yes he did.

Both are singing off the same hymn sheet

Arlene Foster and a lot of the DUP were former UUP members. The DUP (and Sinn Fein TBF) have come into the middle ground, that's why power sharing was working until Sinn Fein collapsed them.

They are both Unionist parties but the DUP does have some (strange) hardline quirks. Gay marriage, restrictions on Sundays, Abortion and a few others are well behind the times for the rest of the country. There's still a big religious element in the party driving things. I'm sure Arlene will have Theresa saying a little prayer before each meeting but for the Union this is a great election.

I tactically voted DUP for the first time ever. I've been a UUP supporter for many years (still am) but it was a 2 horse race between the DUP and Alliance which to me is whittling down the Union slowly. I disagree with much of the DUP but I'm strongly Unionist and the Union is more important to me.

Arlene Foster should ask to be Prime Minister in exchange for her support.

DUP........they sound like a bunch of nutters......

Sinn Fein refuse to take their seats as they will not take the Parliamentary oath of allegiance to The Queen. Because of this they cannot take their seats but they still claim their Parliamentary Salaries, Expenses, Staff and Offices and all the other perks of being a Member of Parliament (I would suspect the free bars and restaurants at Westminster would be very popular).
Anyway they don't seem to have a problem being paid in Sterling and accepting a currency with the Queens's head on it so their (ahem) principles are very selective.

Are not most of their MPs also MLAs for same constituencies? Claiming expenses twice?

Yes they are also MLA's in NI and although they collapsed the institution thay still claim full salaries, expenses, staff, offices etc.
Nice work if you can get it

In the past few years most if not all MP's are now separate from MLA's. I'm almost sure every one of the DUP MP's are, not sure about Sinn Fein (now there are only 2 party's in NI.)

Vidou - Ovalman may know better, but the Sinn Fein issue is a bit more complicated that you state. The SF constitution going back nearly 100 years dictates that they cannot participate in any House of Commons activities. Not sure it is still valid, but didn't Betty Boothroyd reduce SF MP's status allowing them only the same facilities as would be allowed to a member of the public.  Someone will have the facts but I am pretty sure it is nothing like as simple as you state.

The British government refuses to pay Sinn Féin MPs our salaries and other grants which all other Westminster MPs receive.  Over the last five years this has amounted to almost £2 million.

Lifted that from the Sinn fein site.

blackbarn they will not participate because they will not take the Oath of Allegiance. They are very similar to IS in that they seek to impose their extremist views on all by any means