May change mind

to change tack in her strategy to leave the EU, pressing her plan and trying to persuade lawmakers in her Conservative Party and in opposition Labour to vote for any deal based on it in parliament.

May’s plan proposes Britain staying in a free trade zone with the EU for manufactured and agricultural goods.

Lobbying of May from all sides of the Brexit debate has increased in recent weeks as London and Brussels edge closer to an agreement on a draft withdrawal treaty to cover the divorce terms, a transition period and a solution for Northern Ireland.

Preventing any return of a hard border between the British province and EU member Ireland has become one of the major obstacles to such an agreement, with Brexit campaigners fearful that a non timelimited backstop will keep Britain inside a customs union with the bloc indefinitely. May insists any customs arrangement as part of the backstop must be temporary, but the EU has refused to set an end date.

Health Minister Matt Hancock suggested the backstop could be temporary without such a date, an argument that may fall flat for some eurosceptic lawmakers who are calling for May to “chuck Chequers”, her Brexit plan named after her country residence.

“There are different ways to ensure that something is time limited. There are different ways of doing that. For instance, you can set conditions at the point at which the arrangements come to an end,” Hancock told the BBC.

Even if May reaches agreement with the Brussels on a withdrawal agreement, she will face a struggle to get any deal through parliament and may even find opposition from her Northern Irish partners to other legislation such as the budget.