How Twitter reacted to the Tory-DUP government?

Theresa May's decision to go with the Democratic Unionist Party has been greeted with dismay online

Arlene Foster
DUP leader Arlene Foster (L)
(Image credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Theresa May met the Queen this afternoon and then announced she will go into government with the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Brushing off calls to resign from opponents, the Prime Minister said she had a "strong relationship" with "friends and allies" in the party who would help her start Brexit negotiations, promising to "provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country".

The DUP has ten MPs in the Commons, two more than they did in the last parliament.

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Twitter divided into two camps upon hearing the news: those with an opinion on the DUP - and those who had no idea what the party stood for.

Most on the political left had no time for these "extreme social conservatives", who one commenter described as "Trump with a Belfast accent".

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Broadcaster Jon Snow, among others, highlighted how a party with few MPs and undeniably extreme views will now influence mainstream UK politics.

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May will have to concede some points to ensure the DUP helps her in parliament, which has commenters worried about what this might mean for the political direction of travel of the greater UK. Others in Northern Ireland saw the bright side:

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Although one tweeter wondered if the DUP would give May enough of a majority.

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The Prime Minister was also accused of hypocrisy for collaborating with a party that has contact with the Ulster Defence Association after a campaign during which she accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of having links to terror groups.

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However, The Guardian's Polly Toynbee said the move could be good news for those opposed to Brexit. While the DUP has always been Eurosceptic, it does not want to see a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

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