May’s plea to ‘patriotic’ MPs
Theresa May has appealed to MPs’ "patriotism’’ and urges them to cast aside their differences by voting for her Brexit deal to save her premiership.
In a bid to stave off a third heavy defeat, the prime minister writes in The Sunday Telegraph that MPs must ‘‘stand together as democrats and patriots’’ and support her withdrawal deal.
May’s authority was dealt another blow yesterday when Nick Boles, the Remainsupporting Tory MP, quit his local Conservative association – although he will continue to support the Tories in the House of Commons.
The Sunday Telegraph can disclose that the PM’s team was yesterday in negotiations in London with DUP leaders Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds over a two-part plan to win their support. The first part is a guarantee the EU will not treat Northern Ireland and Britain differently in terms of the customs union and single market after Brexit. The second is that DUP MPs will be ‘‘deeply involved’’ in the UK Government negotiating team over the future trade deal with the EU. Dodds told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘‘We are determined that Brexit should happen in accordance with the referendum result but the only way it can happen which is acceptable to us is if the United Kingdom is treated as one. The Government is now focused on this key issue but political statements or pledges are not enough.’’
May conceded that she had to offer something to the DUP to have a chance of getting her deal through the Commons. She said: ‘‘I know that I will have to do more to convince others, as well as the DUP, if I am to succeed in finally securing a majority for the deal. That remains my goal. It is the only way through the current impasse.’’
May urges MPs to move on from the arguments that shaped the 2016 referendum and back her deal to take Britain out of the EU at the end of next week.
She said: ‘‘I am convinced that the time to define ourselves by how we voted in 2016 must now end.
‘‘We can only put those old labels aside if we stand together as democrats and patriots, pragmatically making the honourable compromises necessary to heal division and move forward.
‘‘We dearly need to resolve this question now. If we fail, the way ahead is one of uncertainty and ongoing, perhaps permanent, division. If we succeed, the opportunities are boundless – for a more purposeful politics, a more respectful public discourse a more prosperous and secure future for us all. It is a prize wellworth striving for and a prize well-within our reach.’’
May’s team spent the weekend trying to persuade wavering Conservative MPs to back her deal, with former Cabinet minister Esther McVey writing in the Sunday Telegraph that she will now vote for it.
Senior figures in the European Research Group said they expected May to lose the vote by a majority of well over 100 votes, forcing her to seek a long delay to Brexit at a summit of EU leaders on Thursday.
Eurosceptic MPs are furious that May has not disciplined Remain-supporting ministers, including four Cabinet ministers who last week defied whips by abstaining on a vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit. She is already facing a backlash among Tory donors and grassroots if she accepts a lengthy delay to Britain’s departure. – Telegraph Group