Move to foil Brexit vote derided by senior Tories
A Brexit deal allowing Britain to limit immigration from the European Union for seven years will be totally insufficient, senior Conservatives have told Prime Minister Theresa May.
Tories reacted with anger yesterday as it emerged that one of the Brexit deals being examined by diplomats could allow Britain to have an ‘‘emergency brake’’ on immigration and stay in the EU single market.
May’s predecessor, David Cameron, failed to secure a similar deal as part of the negotiations that he hoped would convince voters to back Remain.
Senior Conservatives said such a deal would fall well short of the demands of voters. It would mean that Britain would not have full control of its borders and would still have to pay billions into the EU’S budget, they said.
John Redwood, a former cabinet minister, said that the public had not voted ‘‘for a slightly beefed-up version of Mr Cameron’s attempted renegotiation with the EU’’.
‘‘We voted to leave, to take back control of our laws, our money and our borders,’’ the former Welsh secretary said. ‘‘Those phrases were repeated throughout the Leave campaign, heard and understood by many and approved by the majority of voters.
‘‘The rest of the EU is missing the point. There should be no negotiation over taking back control of these important matters. When the Conservatives lost the 2005 election – partly based on Labour’s lie of no more boom and bust – we did not try to overturn the election result, take them to court or demand a re-run. We accepted the verdict of the UK voters.’’
Whitehall sources said that the idea had originated from Brussels diplomats, probably as a ‘‘hangover’’ from Cameron’s failure to secure the emergency brake as part of his attempt to keep Britain inside the EU.