Brexiters optimistic that May will stand firm on customs union

Brexiter Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist party emerged upbeat from their meetings with Theresa May in Downing Street, convinced that the prime minister was not intending to soften her position to try to attract Labour votes.A group of senior Brexiters – including former cabinet ministers David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson and Theresa Villiers – told May that parliament would back a deal if she could find a way of dealing with the Northern Ireland backstop issue.