The UK Prime Minister has noted that there are already regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and Britain that do not impact on the union between the two.

Theresa May was speaking in Belfast as she continued her tour to try and drum up support for the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

She said the deal, accepted by her Cabinet and the leaders of the 27 remaining EU states, protects the Good Friday Agreement and prevents any hard border in the North.

“We do already have some regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain in certain areas and that hasn’t challenged the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom,” she said.

“The United Kingdom is every bit as much a united kingdom today with those regulatory divergences and it will continue to be a united kingdom in the future.”

She insisted the deal delivers on the wishes of the British people and protects UK jobs.

“But crucially [the agreement] recognises the specific circumstances of Northern Ireland and the importance of maintaining our commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring that people in Northern Ireland can continue to live their lives as they do today and that we have no hard border,” she said.

A vote on whether or not to accept the deal will take place in the UK Parliament on December 11th – with many commentators doubtful she will be able to get it passed.

US President Donald Trump

The opposition to her plans was buoyed after the US President Donald Trump said the plan could prevent post-Brexit trade deals with the US and said it "sounds like a great deal for the EU."

Hard-line Brexiteers within Mrs May’s Conservative Party were also emboldened by a blistering attack on the plan from former defence secretary Michael Fallon.

Mr Fallon said the deal was “doomed” and insisted it offered the UK the “worst of all worlds.”

He called on his colleagues to heed President Trump’s words – and suggested the Brexit date could be postponed to give officials time to negotiate a new deal.

The prominent remainer was widely expected to back the deal.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds and leader Arlene Foster during the party’s annual conference at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Belfast, 24-11-2018. Image: Michael Cooper/PA Wire/PA Images

In the North, the DUP is continuing to voice its own opposition to the agreement, with party leader Arlene Foster labelling Mrs May’s Northern Ireland visit a “propaganda tour.”

“That is exactly what it is, because she is trying to speak over the heads of the people that will take the decision,” she said.

“Which of course are the Parliamentarians in the House of Commons so really coming to Northern Ireland to talk to other people seems to me, a waste of time.”

She accused Mrs May of giving up on finding a better deal – and insisted that she continues to “believe in a better way forward.”

 The deal was ratified by EU leaders at a special summit on Sunday.

Following the summit, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that it was "the only deal possible."

"This is the best deal possible for Britain, this is the best deal possible for Europe, this is the only deal possible - the only deal possible," he said.