Ex-Tory chief whip to revolt over deal

A FORMER Tory chief whip warned yesterday that Theresa May’s Brexit deal would leave her party “in office but unable to govern effectively”.

Announcing he will rebel for the first time in 13 years as an MP, Mark Harper said the Democratic Unionist Party would rip up its pact to back the minority Government in key votes, leaving it to suffer damaging Commons defeats.

Until this week Mr Harper, who was dropped by Mrs May as chief whip when she became Prime Minister in 2016, remained publicly supportive.

But he says he will vote against the Brexit deal next Tuesday unless Mrs May promises to remove the Irish “backstop” proposal.

Mr Harper is one of at least 100 Tories threatening to revolt on Tuesday.

He said the backstop that will keep the UK in the EU customs union until a new deal is done would leave the bloc in charge and might even stop firms in Northern Ireland trading with those in the rest of the UK.

Decades

Mr Harper said it was also unnecessary since the EU, UK and Ireland have vowed there would be no new “hard border”.

He fears it could “cripple” Britain’s negotiating power so we end up with a “very bad” EU trade deal lasting decades.

No amendments or words added to the motion for next week’s vote will solve the problem, he insisted.

He said Mrs May must be ready to tell Brussels the backstop has to be removed, or she will not get the deal through Parliament.

If the Prime Minister somehow won the vote, it could destroy her alliance with the DUP, Mr Harper said.

He told the Commons last night: “It’s my belief that the relationship between our DUP allies and the PM would be fractured beyond repair.

“What we saw yesterday when we were defeated three times in this House would be a state of affairs repeated day after day, after day.

“We would be in office but unable to govern our country effectively.”

Mr Harper said he was also dismayed that the Government was ready to pay the EU £39billion as part of the legally binding withdrawal agreement before it had secured good trade terms, which will be hammered out in future talks.

He said: “I regret being put in a position where in order to hold to the promises we made in our election manifesto, I am forced to vote against a proposition put before us by our Prime Minister.

“But it’s important in politics that we keep our promises because that is how we maintain the trust of the British people.”