One of the Northern Irish MPs propping up Theresa May’s government accepted holidays worth £100,000 from a country he is now helping to secure a post-Brexit trade deal, The Telegraph can reveal.

Ian Paisley Jr, one of the Democratic Unionist Party’s most prominent MPs, accepted two all-expenses-paid trips from the Sri Lankan government.

Documents seen by the Telegraph show that Mr Paisley took his wife and four children to the country.

They flew business class, stayed in the finest hotels and were provided with a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, all paid for by the Sri Lankan government.

During discussions with officials, he offered to help the state broker an oil deal, saying he had “significant arrangements with national oil suppliers” in Oman and Nigeria.