FEARS GROWING OVER A BREXIT STITCH-UP AS MAY CLOSES IN ON ‘COALITION’ DEAL
HARD-LINE Brexiteers reacted angrily last night after Michael Gove called for cross-party backing to achieve the “maximum possible consensus” over Brexit.
The Environment Secretary, restored to the Cabinet in Prime Minister Theresa May’s reshuffle, confirmed that ministers were ready to work with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party on a new approach.
His words triggered alarm that the loss of the Government’s majority could mean a less drastic severing of ties with Brussels than promised before last week’s General Election.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “We as Conservatives were not returned with a majority and that means that we need to proceed with the maximum possible consensus.
“We also need to make sure that the concerns of people who voted Remain – many of whom now actually want us to press ahead with leaving the EU as quickly and in as orderly fashion as possible – are part of our conversation.”
Fears of a rapid stitch-up deal with Brussels grew yesterday after the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier called for talks to start “very quickly”.
But Eurosceptic MP Bernard Jenkin pointed out that both the Tories and Labour had promised a clear break from Brussels at the election.
He said there was “no authority to stay in the EU single market or the customs union in either the Labour or Conservative manifestos”.
Mr Jenkin asked: “Would both parties rat on the voters?”
Brexiteers will be encouraged by the appointment of leading Tory Eurosceptic Steve Baker to a frontbench role.
He becomes a minister in David Davis’s Department for Exiting the European Union.
His appointment went some way to address concerns of Tory MPs about two leading Brexiteers leaving the department.
Eurosceptic David Jones was sacked as a minister of state and replaced with former Remain supporter Baroness Anelay.
Lord Bridges, another prominent Eurosceptic, quit the Government in the reshuffle.
Mr Baker had helped set up the Conservatives for Britain group that backed the Vote Leave pressure group and as chairman of the Eurosceptic European Research Group had been a thorn in the side of the Tory leadership.
Just hours before his appointment, he said: “We need a good, clean exit which minimises disruption and maximises opportunity. We need the ‘softest’ exit consistent with actually leaving and controlling laws, money borders and trade.”
That meant “delivering” on the aims set out in the Government’s White Paper in February, which included leaving the single market and seeking a new customs arrangement with the EU.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith last night warned Mrs May against watering down the Tory pledge of a fullblooded break with the EU following the election. He said: “I think the Conservative Party, people in Cabinet who may well seem to think that they are going to start reopening all of this… the answer is I would not try and reopen this before you start the negotiations.
“Because all that you’ll get is what we don’t want, which is another argument and row going on in the governing party. It had a settled position. We had agreed that position before we went into the last election.”
Gisela Stuart, a former Labour minister who was chairwoman of the Vote Leave campaign, insisted there should be no backsliding on Brexit.
She said: “Those who still have not come to terms with the outcome of the referendum now talk about stopping a chaotic Brexit.
“The people have expressed their will to leave the EU. Democracy demands that we implement the referendum decision.”
Last night in Paris Mrs May insisted her timetable for Brexit talks remained on track.
Mr Davis is now expected to travel to Brussels on Monday as originally planned.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron echoed the view of German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble that Britain could still remain in the EU.
M Macron said: “Of course the door remains open, until the Brexit negotiations end.”
LAST week’s General Election result was a shock which robbed Theresa May of the strong mandate that she had hoped to achieve for the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
One result has been that Remainers – who will grasp at any straw – have begun stating that Brexit will now either be watered down or will simply not happen.
Nothing could be further from the truth for the Conservatives and Labour, both committed to Britain leaving the EU, won 82.4 per cent of the total vote. This proves beyond doubt that the will of the people of Britain is to achieve Brexit. Anyone who wanted a second referendum on EU membership had the option of voting for the Lib Dems who pledged one. They achieved just 7.4 per cent of the vote.
It is not necessarily a bad idea to hold cross-party talks on this extraordinarily complex issue but there must be no soft Brexit. The country chose to leave the EU last year in order to regain control of our borders and make our own laws. There can be no compromise on this.
Neither does Britain need to pay any attention to Michel Barnier, the European chief negotiator for Brexit, who has been expressing his impatience at the prospect of any delay in getting the talks under way and claiming that Britain is wasting time. These are simply bullying tactics, unimportant in themselves but indicative of the sort of attitude we can expect from Brussels in the months to come.
The General Election has changed nothing. We are still leaving the EU and getting back control. Brexit still means Brexit.