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DUP 'surprised' with poor negotiating experience of Theresa May's team

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BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images/Leon Neal

Theresa May is set to unveil a "humble" Queen's speech on Wednesday after failing secure the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The agenda, which is read by the Queen but written by the government, describes the policy directives for forthcoming year.

This year's is expected to be a slimmed down version of the Conservative manifesto, given they do not command a majority in the House of Commons and now cannot rely on the support of the DUP.

There's no guarantee that the DUP will vote for it currently.

DUP sources told Sky News that negotiations with the Conservatives:

Haven't proceeded in a way that DUP would have expected.

They added they were...

...surprised at the [low] level of negotiating experience

...in May's team.

Sky News' Ireland correspondent David Blevins described May's failure to win an agreement from the DUP as:

A quite extraordinary debacle.

It marks a sea change from attitudes a week prior:

Don't worry, it's not like the country has any other major negotiations presently ongoing.

More: More than half of Britons don't think the government can handle Brexit negotiations

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