May faces furious backlash over Brexit deal
‘‘This is unprecedented, Cabinet is not meant to work like this. Ministers who disagreed with the Brexit deal are being dictated to.’’
Iain Duncan Smith
Theresa May was accused of railroading a Brexit deal through Cabinet yesterday as she faces a potential leadership challenge within days following a furious Tory backlash.
During a highly-charged fivehour Cabinet meeting, 11 out of 29 ministers spoke out against the proposed deal, and at least three ministers are this morning understood to be considering resigning.
Esther McVey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is said by colleagues to be ‘‘on the brink’’ after an extraordinary shouting match in the Cabinet room with the Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill.
May refused pleas from dissenters for a formal show of hands.
The 585-page draft Withdrawal Agreement, which was finally published last night after more than two years of negotiations, confirms that a proposed ‘‘backstop’’ arrangement for Northern Ireland cannot be ended without the consent of the EU.
The prime minister insisted the Cabinet had taken a decision ‘‘in the national interest’’ and warned MPs that if they voted against the deal they would be left with ‘‘no deal or no Brexit at all’’.
But later she appeared to have lost the support both of Eurosceptic Tories and the DUP, on whose MPs she relies for her parliamentary majority.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the 60-strong ERG group of Leavesupporting Tory MPs, wrote to his colleagues to say he ‘‘can not support the proposed agreement’’ and calling on them to join him in voting against it.
Several Eurosceptic Tory MPs were last night reported to have submitted letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, demanding a confidence vote in May after saying it was time to change leader. If 48 letters are submitted, a vote will be triggered automatically.
The DUP also vowed to vote against the deal because the proposed ‘‘backstop’’ to avoid a hard border in Ireland if there is no trade deal would mean different rules for the UK and Northern Ireland.
Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, told Channel 4 News that the EU was trying to achieve ‘‘what the IRA couldn’t achieve’’ by forcing through a deal that would weaken the Union.
The document is expected to be rubber-stamped by EU leaders at a special summit on November 25 after Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said the withdrawal negotiations had ‘‘concluded’’ and ‘‘the next step in the process can begin’’.
May will then face the far more difficult task of getting Parliament to back the deal, and she admitted there would be ‘‘difficult days ahead’’.
Just how difficult will become apparent today as she presents the proposed deal to Parliament. During what May described as an ‘‘impassioned’’ Cabinet meeting yesterday, McVey, was said to be ‘‘emotional’’ and ‘‘aggressive towards the prime minister’’ and called for an official vote to be taken.
In return, Sedwill is said to have ‘‘shouted her down’’, leaving her considering her position today along with Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House, and Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary.
Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, and Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, raised concerns that the proposed deal will prevent Britain striking trade deals with third countries after Brexit.
Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, and Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, were among the few minister to have spoken up in favour of the proposed deal.
Agreement was only reached when the ministers agreed it was ‘‘this or Corbyn’’, sources told The Daily Telegraph.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory MP and former Conservative leader: ‘‘This is unprecedented, Cabinet is not meant to work like this. Ministers who disagreed with the Brexit deal are being dictated to. That cannot be good for Cabinet cohesion, the Cabinet is not united around this deal.’’
The Conservative MP Peter Bone told Mrs May that her proposed deal would not deliver the Brexit the public voted for and she would ‘‘lose the support of many Conservative MPs and millions of voters across the country’’.
May said last night: ‘‘I firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be negotiated and I needed Cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks.
‘‘The choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland decision. But the decision in Cabinet was that the Government should agree with the withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration.
‘‘This is a decisive step, which enables us to move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead. These decisions were not taken lightly, but I believe it is a decision in the national interest.
‘‘When you strip away the detail, the choice before us is clear: this deal which delivers on the vote of the 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.’’ She said the alternative to her deal was to ‘‘go back to square one, with more division and more uncertainty, with a failure to deliver on the result of the referendum’’.
She added: ‘‘I firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision that is in the best interests of our entire United Kingdom.’’ – Telegraph Group