Election 2017: Who are the Democratic Unionist Party?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40217141 Edited:

'The Democratic Unionists look set to be the powerbrokers in an election that intended to bring stability but has ended in a hung Parliament. Theresa May has said she will form a government with the support of the DUP, though it is not clear what kind of arrangement this will be.

Basically, the DUP are pro-union (UK, not EU), pro-Brexit and socially conservative. The party, which returned 10 MPs to Westminster, has garnered a bit of a reputation for its strong and controversial views. It opposes same-sex marriage and is anti-abortion - abortion remains illegal in Northern Ireland, except in specific medical cases.

Then there's the party's historical links to loyalist paramilitaries. During this general election campaign, the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly received the endorsement of the three biggest loyalist paramilitary organisations. Although the DUP said it did not accept their support, in her acceptance speech, Mrs Little-Pengelly thanked those who came out to vote for her, singling out several loyalist working class areas in Belfast.

The DUP was a wholehearted supporter of Brexit and got heavily involved in the Leave campaign.

After Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland becomes an EU frontier and the DUP is not in favour of a so-called hard border. This means no checkpoints or intrusive enforcement. So no hard border but in the round, the party's vision of Brexit is a fairly hard one - it was the most Eurosceptic party in the UK before the ascent of UKIP.

The party also wants to leave the EU customs union - their manifesto says there should be "progress on new free trade deals with the rest of the world" - and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ensuring that in future British law is supreme.

One red line is the idea of Northern Ireland being granted some sort of "special status" when Brexit comes to pass - the DUP will not stand for any arrangement that physically sets the region apart from anywhere else in the UK.'



Emma Pengelly (in blue) with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, DUP leader Arlene Foster and Jimmy Spratt

Hopefully with that in mind, the momentum with Brexit can secure the country's borders and help the country stay stabilized with a needed political party such as this. It is a shame that something volatile such the EU was created with their associated bankers, elites and lobbyists destabilized European countries that undermines the general populace of each country. Where each country's commerce and internal economy is being subsidized towards the EU's "worldly endeavors for humanitarianism/human rights." Hopefully the EU will become a thing of the past for everyone's sake.

There is probably a long-term vision to expand beyond what we know as Europe. Turkey for sure, but also Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_enlargement_of_the_European_Union#Eastern_Partnership_states

Theresa May made a fool out of herself losing so many seats.

When she first called the election it looked like a good gamble and that the Conservatives would increase their seats. The way it turned out has a been quite a surprise.