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The findings come after parties in the Six Counties agreed on electoral pacts that could put some of the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) 10 seats in Parliament at risk. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) has vowed to step aside in the Northern Belfast constituency to give Sinn Fein a clear run to unseat the DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds. Arlene Foster’s party, which has been propping up Mr Johnson’s minority government, turned on Boris Johnson last month, accusing him of betraying the people of Northern Ireland over his Brexit proposals.
The December 12 election could see anti-Brexit nationalist groups who favour a reunification of Ireland gain seats at the expense of the pro-Unionist party, tipping the balance of power in the province.
Four in 10 Britons say they were not bothered about what would happen to Northern Ireland in the future, according to the latest YouGov poll.
More than half (58 percent) of Leave and Remain voters said they would choose having their Brexit wishes granted over keeping Northern Ireland in the Union.
A total of 1,641 adults on mainland Britain were asked about the issue between October 23 and 24.
The Irish border has been one of the key sticking points in the Brexit negotiations.
Unionists in Belfast are opposed to the prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal which they believe would create a regulatory border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
It would involve the region following some of the rules of the EU’s single market to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland but including a new regime for goods crossing the Irish Sea.
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7.59am update: Greggs’ sales jump after Brexit delay
Greggs has revealed that sales jumped in the last six weeks, meaning profits are now expected to be higher than first thought, the sausage roll specialist said.
Bosses had previously been concerned that supplies and sales could take a hit from the UK leaving the EU on October 31, with potential delays to imports.
But with an extension agreed, those concerns have now been allayed.
As a result, sales in the six weeks to November 9 jumped 12.4 percent, with like-for-like sales up 8.3 percent when new stores are stripped out.
The company said it now anticipates “2019 full-year profit before tax (excluding exceptional charges) to be higher than our previous expectations”.
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