Bombardier presses DUP to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal

Bombardier, the most important employer in the Unionist strongholds of Northern Ireland, is putting pressure on the region’s Democratic Unionist party to drop its objections to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal as a critical vote in Westminster nears. The Canadian aircraft manufacturer, which employs almost 4,000 people at four separate Belfast factories, has kept a relatively low public profile over Brexit compared with other UK-based manufacturers. But the increasing threat of Britain leaving without a deal has prompted Bombardier to warn the DUP, which has fiercely criticised Mrs May’s deal in the past, of the serious consequences on its Northern Ireland operations of a hard exit, according to people familiar with the discussions.