Pressure mounts on Theresa May as 750,000 sign petition against DUP deal

The criticism is coming in thick and fast for UK Prime Minister Theresa May over her decision to seek a so called "confidence and supply" arrangement with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The talks with DUP leader Arlene Foster in Downing Street on Tuesday 13 June come after the Conservatives failed to win a majority of MPs in the House of Commons at the general election.

The hung parliament result means that the Tories will have to secure a deal with the unionists in a bid to stay in power as minority government or be forced to hold another snap election.

The negotiations have proved controversial because of the DUP's conservative Protestant stance, including opposing gay marriage and abortion.

More than 743,000 people have signed an online petition urging May to drop the talks with the DUP. Petition author Stuart Veaney described May's decision to seek an alliance with the DUP as "disgusting".

He added: "My opinion is that we should form a cross-party coalition and work together to achieve a successful 'Brexit'. A general election should be called thereafter."

But other than Veaney and the hundreds of thousands of signatories venting their grievances, the petition is not expected to have any material impact on the Conservative/DUP deal. Labour MP Yvette Cooper, the chair of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee, has described the proposed alliance as "troubling".

However, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown reportedly reached out to the DUP in an effort to form an alliance in the wake of the 2010 general election result, which returned a hung parliament.

Conservative MP Owen Paterson, a former Northern Ireland secretary, told IBTimes UK there had been a "complete and total exaggeration" around the Tories' alliance talks with the DUP.

"All of these moral and personal issues are nearly all devolved and, if they're not, they're subject to a free vote [in the House of Commons]," he said.

Beyond the row over the alliance, the negotiations could reportedly delay the Queen's Speech, which is scheduled for 19 June.

The statement, delivered by the monarch of the day in the House of Lords (parliament's upper chamber), sets out the government's top priorities over the course of the new parliament. If the speech is delayed, a new parliamentary session cannot begin and MPs cannot get back to work.