DUP cannot back Brexit deal without "legally watertight" way out of backstop -Dodds

The Northern Irish party which props up Prime Minister Theresa May's minority government cannot support any Brexit deal that does not have a way out of the so-called Irish backstop, its deputy leader Nigel Dodds said on Tuesday.

May is seeking changes to the backstop, an insurance policy which aims to avoid the return of hard border on the island of Ireland, after parliament rejected her Brexit deal last month.

"She must know that without a legally watertight way out of the backstop then certainly we could not support any future Withdrawal Agreement brought to this House," the Democratic Unionist Party's Dodds said in parliament. (Reporting by William James, Writing by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)