Brexit is ‘95% there’ says May. ‘Bring a noose,’ say Tory MPs
Furious response
‘No place for personal vitriol’
THERESA May has told MPs that 95% of Brexit terms have been agreed but the Irish border was still a ‘considerable sticking point’.
In a Commons statement following last week’s EU summit in Brussels, the prime minister said a Brexit extension would be an alternative to activating the so-called Northern Ireland ‘backstop’, under which Northern Ireland would have a special trading deal with the EU.
She stressed that the Brexit transition – currently due to end at the end of 2020 – would have to be over ‘well before’ June 2022.
Mrs May faced a furious response from some Tory MPs after it emerged that the possibility of an extension to the transition period – currently due to run for 21 months – had been discussed by EU leaders in Brussels, prompting accusations the UK could be forced to pay billions into EU coffers for months, even years after it has left.
The prime minister said while the terms of the withdrawal agreement were now 95% agreed, there remained an ‘impasse’ over the issue of the Irish border.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the government had been forced to consider extending the transition period as a result of ‘its own incompetence’.
‘Their Brexit negotiations have been a litany of missed deadlines, shambolic failure and now they’re begging for extra time,’ he said.
There was some respite for the UK prime minister as leading Tory Brexiteer Steve Baker announced he was withdrawing amendments to the Northern Ireland Bill intended to prevent the backstop being implemented.
In the Commons, Mrs May reiterated the Government could not accept the original EU backstop plan as it would create a ‘customs border down the Irish Sea’, breaking up the integrity of the UK.
Earlier, Downing Street slapped down anonymous Conservative MPs who used violent imagery to describe a possible coup to unseat Mrs May. Weekend newspapers reported Tory backbenchers saying the prime minister would be ‘knifed’ and she should ‘bring her own noose’ to a meeting with MPs to discuss her Brexit plans.
Her official spokesman said Mrs May expected those in public life to avoid ‘dehumanising’ and ‘derogatory’ language. ‘I don’t intend to dignify those specific anonymous comments with a response,” the spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing.
‘The Prime Minister has always been very clear that we must set a tone in public discourse that is neither dehumanising nor derogatory.
‘Personal vitriol has no place in our politics.’
The vicious attacks marked the start of what is expected to be a tough week for the UK prime minister, with some observers speculating that the number of MPs calling for her removal may reach the 48 figure which would trigger a vote of no confidence.
Mrs May spoke with Cabinet colleagues in lengthy tele- phone conference calls over the weekend. She also told MPs there may be limited circumstances when it is in Britain’s interest to agree to a short extension to the transition period after it leaves the EU in March 2020.
In a Commons statement following last week’s EU summit in Brussels, the prime minister said such an extension would be an alternative to activating the so-called Northern Ireland backstop, intended to guarantee there is no return to a hard border with the Republic.
She stressed that in any circumstances the transition – currently due to end at the end of 2020 – would have to be over ‘well before’ the end of the parliament expected in June 2022.
‘There are some limited circumstances in which it could be argued that an extension to the implementation period might be preferable,’ she said. ‘For example, a short extension to the implementation period would mean only one set of changes for businesses – at the point we move to the future relationship.’