The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has reportedly told Prime Minister Theresa May not to take them for granted over a possible deal between the Conservatives and the Northern Irish outfit, with just hours to go before the Queen's Speech is delivered on Wednesday 23 June.

The comments will undoubtedly focus the minds of the British government, since they face unveiling their top policies for the new parliament without a majority in the House of Commons.

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"The government needs to focus on talks...They have not been going as expected," a DUP source told Sky News.

The deal between the pro-Brexit parties could also reportedly face a legal challenge since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement states UK and Irish governments must be impartial brokers when dealing with the Northern Ireland assembly.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major has urged May to drop the planned agreement, warning that it could undermine the "fragile" peace process in the province.

"I am concerned about the deal. I am wary about it. I am dubious about it. Both for peace process reasons, but also for other reasons as well," the Tory grandee told BBC Radio 4's World at One show.

But senior Tory MP Owen Paterson, a former Northern Ireland secretary, told IBTimes UK that it was "massively" in the province's interest not to have Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister because of his past support for republicanism, including his connections with Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

The remarks to Sky News came just hours after a DUP source describe the talks as "positive" to IBTimes UK. The source said the party wanted to "go public this week", but cautioned that the "talks will have to take as long as they take".

Meanwhile, the UK government has kicked off the two-year-long Brexit talk process with Brussels. The DUP backed a Brexit at the EU referendum, but Northern Ireland voted 55.8% Remain to 44.2% Leave. A Number 10 source declined to comment when approached by IBTimes UK.

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