most senior members. there are a lot of questions this morning, both about policy plans, the effect on public services, and the long term future of power sharing here, as the dup leader, sirjeffrey donaldson has been saying, to be difficult for his party to go back into government, after an election currently scheduled for the first week in may, if group that concerns about the northern ireland protocol were not dealt with. if dup concerns. the opening ceremony of this year s winter olympics is getting under way in beijing. this is the scene at the main stadium known as the bird s nest. its rim is decorated with the flags of the 91 competing nations and regions. few global leaders have journeyed to beijing to be at the opening, but the russian president vladimir putin is there.
continues to benefit people. but then you brought her down. you brought theresa may s government down. you brought her brexit deal down, you backed brexit. and now look where you ve got no power, no more money for northern ireland, a brexit deal that you had backed the idea of going ahead with brexit and the prime minister s obviously let you down. well, look, it was disappointing that the prime minister who came to northern ireland and gave pledges that there would be no border in the irish sea, in the end, agreed to a protocol that delivered a border in the irish sea. and we ve made clear that he should honour the commitments he gave at that time and remove that border. but look, that s politics. you do your best. but we were in circumstances in 2019 where, even with our support, the prime minister had lost a majority, a number of conservatives. hold on, if you wouldn t mind, jeffrey donaldson. i was at the rally that borisjohnson stood next to arlene foster, then dup leader,
of conservatives. but hold on, if you wouldn t mind, jeffrey donaldson. i was at the rally that borisjohnson stood next to arlene foster, then dup leader, cheering round the room as i held my microphone under each of them. you believed you got the guy who was going to deliver for the union. now, what went wrong? had you misunderstood him? did he not really care? or did he think that pushing northern ireland to one side was the price worth paying for brexit? well, i suspect it was the latter. in the end, you have to take someone at their word and test that word. we did that, and when the prime minister brought forward the protocol, you will recall, nick, that we blocked the eu withdrawal agreement. and because of our votes, the prime minister was not able to proceed with his withdrawal agreement, including the protocol, and had to go to the country, he called an election. mm, but i m interested,
i remember presenting on that day, watching you, felt like a really big step forward for everybody in the united kingdom, and around the world as well, so to sit here and talk to you now today, a few months on and seeing you both doing so well is fantastic. thank you. it s been a pleasure. it s my pleasure. it is nice to chat. it s my pleasure. sirjeffrey donaldson is expected to announce he s standing for the leadership of the democratic unionist party. the dup s choice of leader will be crucial in deciding who is first minister at stormont. let s speak to our correspondent, danjohnson. this is about the leadership of the dup, but also about the devolved government at stormont? ansley, yes, everybody is talking about sirjeffrey donaldson, expected to become the new dup leader, except sirjeffrey donaldson, he has not announced it yet. nominations close at midday tomorrow so we will see who is throwing their hat in the ring but the complication is when sirjeffrey
of serious nationwide protests in iran in the last few years in which hundreds, some say thousands, were killed in these demonstrations and protests. i suspect the result today is not going to give us assurances of stability, more stability in the years to come. the dup s paul givan has been told that he will have to resign as first minister after a new party leader takes over. he is northern ireland s youngest first minister and before long he will also be the shortest serving leader to hold the post. mr givan was informed of the news after the resignation of the dup leader, edwin poots, on thursday night. sirjeffrey donaldson, who is favourite to be the next dup leader, has made it clear he plans to lead the party from stormont as first minister. a little earlier i spoke to our ireland correspondentjulian fowler, who told me more about today s developments. sirjeffrey donaldson expected