THE BACKOUT-STOP
FEARS are mounting the embattled British Prime Minister is to backtrack on her backstop promise.
Theresa May has offered a fig leaf to Brexiteers by saying there could be a technological solution to the Irish border problem.
The potential U-turn emerged during a two-hour Cabinet meeting yesterday.
A spokesman for Mrs May said they had discussed “the potential for alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border”.
Speaking in the Dail, Tanaiste and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the proposed Brexit deal was “sensitive” and “difficult”. He added: “It’s a compromise on both sides.”
Mr Coveney said even if the agreement was supported by EU chiefs on Sunday and subsequently in the House of Commons, negotiators still had the future relationship to negotiate which could take two to three years. He added: “This is a process where Ireland will continue to have to be vigilant to mitigate against unintended consequences of the fallout of Brexit.”
The Tanaiste insisted the agreement is not a draft and will not be revisited.
Mr Coveney said: “This is a Jacob Rees-mogg text that has been agreed between the negotiations teams, it has been agreed by the British Government.
“So to that extent, it is not a draft text, it is now the text, and it is not going to be re-opened.”
Meanwhile, it appears 26 Tories have now said they have no confidence in Mrs May’s premiership – fewer than the 48 needed to trigger a leadership contest.
But Jacob Rees-mogg has not given up hope of getting the extra letters needed and added: “What we are seeing from this Government is a deliberate decision not to deliver a proper Brexit.”