Brexit divides cabinet

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May won the support of her bitterly divided cabinet yesterday for a draft divorce deal with the European Union that has put both Brexit and her leadership at stake.

Ms May emerged from a five-hour meeting with ministers that sent the value of the pound gyrating to announce she had the government’s “collective” backing to move ahead with the plan.

“The collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration,” she said.

But reports suggested as many as a third of the 28 ministers attending voiced doubts about the draft agreement drawn up by UK and EU negotiators after 19 months of talks in Brussels.

While a spokesman for Ms May said the meeting ended without any explicit threats of resignation, the embattled leader conceded she could face stronger resistance when she took the 585-page text to parliament for approval next month.

Rumours of ministers quitting and a plot by Eurosceptic MPs in Ms May’s own party to unseat her saw the pound plunge 1 per cent in a wild hour of trading that ended with the currency on the upswing.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the divorce was making “decisive progress” that still required “lots and lots of work”.

Ms May said she engaged in “impassioned debate” with her ministers — and there “will be difficult days ahead”.

“The choice before us clear,” she said.

“This deal, which delivers on the vote of the (2016) referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security and our union — or leave with no deal, or no Brexit at all.” is