DUP could demand Team GB is renamed ‘TEAM UK’ in exchange for coalition deal

This entry was posted by Elizabeth Lynch on 10/06/2017 at 18:05

The Democratic Unionist Party could insist Team GB is renamed as Team UK as part of its demands in exchange for a deal to help prop up a minority Tory government

The Northern Ireland party was approached by Theresa May to form an alliance to support the Conservatives after her gamble to increase her mandate for a hard Brexit, by holding a snap election, badly backfired. Forced to form a minority government, the Prime Minister has now offered leader Arleen Foster the chance to secure a deal with the Tories.

Arlene Foster and Theresa May Tory-DUP coalition

And now the party, which has just ten MPs in Westminster, could force through a raft of policy suggestions – including changing the name of Great Britain’s Olympic Team.The party unsuccessfully lobbied for the name change ahead of the 2012 Olympics, arguing the existing title did not reflect the areas of the UK which lay outside Great Britain.This is despite the fact that Team GB is an abbreviation of the full team name, “Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

In its 2017 election manifesto, the DUP again suggested a rebrand to Team UK “in recognition of Northern Ireland”.The manifesto read: “Recognition of Northern Ireland sporting bodies, the Olympic team should be referred to as Team UK and the freedom for athletes in Northern Ireland to choose their national team.”