Northern Ireland's DUP will support government in confidence motion if Brexit deal voted down - statement

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster, and Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds, react on stage, at the DUP annual party conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

LONDON (Reuters) - The Northern Irish party propping up Prime Minister Theresa May's government will vote against any attempt to topple her if she is defeated in a vote to approve her Brexit deal next week, a group of eurosceptic MPs said on Wednesday.

"The (Democratic Unionist Party) DUP will support the government in a confidence motion if the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) is voted down. But the risk of losing (their support) and having an election is if the WA goes through," Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told a meeting of the European Research Group, according to a statement.

The statement was issued following a meeting with DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper)