Varadkar expects May can ‘pull

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting for survival amid claims the UK is reducing itself to the status of a “colony” of the European Union.

Hopes that Mrs May had finally united her cabinet behind a Brexit plan were shattered as two prominent ministers, Boris Johnson and David Davis, resigned.

While Mr Davis’s decision to step down as Brexit secretary was met with shrugged shoulders in Dublin, there are fears Mr Johnson will further destabilise the already shaky UK government.

In a scathing resignation letter, Mr Johnson said that, under Mrs May’s leadership, the UK was “heading for a semi-Brexit”, with the dream of an outward-looking global Britain “dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt”.

As disgruntled Conservative MPs canvassed support for a heave, Mrs May was last night preparing to face them down.

Irish ministers have been “banned” by the Taoiseach’s office from appearing on UK media until the heat is taken out of the situation.

The Government believes Mrs May is best placed to deliver a deal that ensures there will never be a return to a hard Border on the island of Ireland.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night told the Irish Independent he expects Mrs May to “pull through”. “While we might have had a shaky start because of Brexit, we’ve got to know each other quite well and I think she’s a much stronger and much more capable and much steelier woman than people give her credit for,” he said.

Mr Varadkar noted that if a no-confidence motion in Mrs May was to be successful, it would bring the document agreed at Chequers last Friday “into question”.

“I think we just have to see what happens over the next couple of days. It’s clearly an evolving situation and we’ll see how things go,” he said.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Mrs May warned MPs that crashing out of the EU without a withdrawal agreement would have “profound consequences”. Her latest plan seeks to keep the UK in a freetrade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.

Mrs May said the plan would deliver frictionless trade with Europe and was the “only way to avoid a hard Border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The proposal in its current form will be rejected by the EU but Irish officials believe that after two years of no progress it could be the basis for genuine talks.

Asked whether the turmoil in London could derail the

Brexit timelines set by the EU, Mr Varadkar replied: “It has definitely been difficult over the last two years that the United Kingdom didn’t seem to have a clear position or clear objectives as to what they wanted Brexit to mean.

“Whereas from day one we were abundantly clear as to what we wanted out of the talks, which was to protect the common travel area so that Irish people can travel freely between Britain and Ireland – work, live, study, access healthcare, housing, education in each other’s countries as though we were citizens of both.

“Secondly, making sure there was no hard Border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

“And, third, trying to minimise any disruption to trade between Britain and Ireland.

“So while we’ve always known what we’ve wanted out of these talks, I think it’s fair to say the UK government hasn’t.”

He added: “They at long last came up with an agreed position last Friday and I hope it holds but we’ll have to keep a close eye on things over the next couple of days.”

Mrs May was greeted by loud cheers from Tory MPs, and shouts of “resign” from the opposition benches, as she arrived to deliver a statement in which she said her proposals would deliver “a Brexit that is in our national interest... the right Brexit deal for Britain”.

She has again ruled out the prospect of a second referendum and vowed to battle on, saying that what she was proposing would be “challenging” for the EU.

“It requires them to think again, to look beyond the positions they have taken so far and to agree a new and fair balance of rights and obligations,” she said.

But in his letter Mr Johnson argued that the proposals were not what voters wanted.

“On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a cabinet decision on the way forward.

“As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and I find they stick in the throat.”

He added: “Since I cannot in all conscience champion these proposals, I have sadly concluded that I must go.”