Scottish Tory leader 'given gay rights pledge from PM over DUP tie-up'

Theresa May has said she will work with the Northern Ireland unionist party to allow her form a government after her party lost their parliamentary majority.

Only the Conservative and Unionist party can provide this.

DUP leader Arlene Foster is expected to seek concessions as well as senior positions in a new government in exchange for providing the needed seats.

Prior to the 2015 election, with the pollsters predicting a hung parliament, the DUP ruled out a potential formal coalition with the Conservatives, instead indicating its support would be offered in a confidence and supply arrangement from the opposition benches.

On Friday, May asked Queen Elizabeth II for permission to start a new governing coalition to keep her spot as prime minister.

While Mrs May said her top ministers would remain in post, she hinted her two close aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill - blamed by many Tory MPs for the party's disastrous campaign - could face the chop.

"The British need to negotiate their exit but with a weak negotiating partner, there is a danger that the talks are bad for both parties", he told German radio.The election campaign was rocked by two terror attacks, which drew attention to May's record in her former job as interior minister, while her own performances were heavily criticised.

But a deal between the DUP and Conservative Party would risk destabilising the political balance in Northern Ireland by increasing the influence of pro-British unionists who have struggled for years with Irish nationalists who want Northern Ireland to join a united Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has spoken of her desire for a soft Brexit for the benefits of working with the European Union and also the Republic of Ireland.

The DUP only represents Northern Ireland, but it runs candidates for seats in the U.K. Parliament.

"The DUP's obstruction to legal abortion in Northern Ireland has left many women in dire circumstances, forced to travel to England where they are not entitled to NHS-funded terminations or face prosecution for seeking help at home".

Now the DUP have become kingmakers for the whole United Kingdom, prompting a spike in Google searches that at one point crashed the party's website.

Oettinger's boss, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said his Brexit negotiating team under Michel Barnier was ready: "The clock is ticking", Juncker said.

The BBC claimed that even though the Prime Minister now has fewer seats than when she called the election, she had no immediate plans to stand down.

The chair of its Education Committee, Mervyn Story, and a number of other DUP members are part of the Caleb Foundation, which is a leading creationist lobby group in Northern Ireland.

"Our leader needs to take stock as well".

And Ukip leader Paul Nuttall fell on his sword after just six months in the job, after slumping to a distant third place in Skegness & Boston on a woeful night for the Eurosceptic party, which shed swathes of voters to Labour and Conservatives.