THERESA’S CAST-IRON BREXIT PLEDGES
EXCLUSIVE: Tory manifesto will guarantee end of free movement ++ UK to leave single market ++ No more meddling by Euro judges
THERESA May will place a triple lock on Brexit in the Tory manifesto to stop obstruction by diehard Remainers.
Tory sources say she is set to include specific pledges to overcome opposition within her party and in the Lords.
The manifesto is expected to commit the Conservatives to ending EU free movement and pulling out of both the single market and European Court of Justice.
Senior Tories see the three measures as essential in delivering last year’s referendum result.
One insider said Tory Remainers would be required to sign up to the package, ‘locking them in’.
Including the pledges in the manifesto will also make it much harder for peers to block Brexit.
Mrs May is expected to use the manifesto to ditch a number of high-profile policies from the Cameron era. Yesterday she left the door open to watering down – or even scrapping – Mr Cameron’s flagship vow to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid.
Ministers refused to say whether the costly ‘triple lock’ on pensions will be retained, or whether the pledge to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ will be kept when the manifesto is published in a fortnight. The move came as:
MPs voted by 522 votes to 13 to back a snap election on June 8;
Mrs May kicked off her campaign with a warning of a ‘coalition of chaos’ led by Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and Tim Farron;
Downing Street moved to calm
the row over Mrs May’s refusal to participate in TV debates with Jeremy Corbyn;
Labour threatened to hit 1.6million higher earners with higher taxes;
George Osborne finally bowed to pressure to quit parliament;
Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would stand for another term;
Gisela Stuart, a prominent Leaver, led an exodus of Labour MPs choosing to quit rather than campaign for Mr Corbyn.
Setting out her ‘Brexit prospectus’, Mrs May said: ‘When people voted to leave the EU they did vote to end free movement as it has been – they voted for us to have control of our laws so we are not subject to the ECJ.
‘We will be ensuring we negotiate the best possible deal with the EU – a deal which will cover the various issues that people are really concerned about in terms of ensuring control of our borders, control of our laws, control of our money.’
A Tory source said: ‘All Conservative candidates will have to stand on the manifesto – it will lock them in and provide a much stronger mandate. It will also send a message to the House of Lords that they cannot get in the way.’
Under the so-called ‘Salisbury convention’, the upper house cannot block legislation enacting pledges made in the man- ifesto of the governing party, although it can delay it for a year. Tory grandee Sir Desmond Swayne yesterday said senior peers, including former cabinet secretary Lord Butler and leading human rights lawyer Lord Lester, had told him ‘we would not leave the European Union because they were in a position to prevent it and would do so’.
He added: ‘The policy the Prime Minister announced, of pursuing a general election and securing a mandate in this house and a mandate to bind the other place to the Salisbury convention, is therefore essential.’
Dominic Raab, a former Tory justice minister, also welcomed the plan, saying: ‘It is a sensible move, which is consistent with the pledges the PM has made.
‘It’s important to make sure we get the strongest possible mandate to deliver the best deal with our European friends.
‘It will also give us a clarity of position which should be respected across both houses of parliament.’
The move will leave prominent Tory Remainers, such as Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Kenneth Clarke in a potentially awkward position.
Miss Soubry yesterday insisted that a bigger Commons majority would make it easier for the Prime Minister to face down Tory Brexiteers and compromise with Brussels. She said: ‘A bigger majority will enable the PM to see off the Hard Brexiteers. She is clear – she wants a deal.’
But she and others could now find themselves having to sign up to a manifesto incorporating key elements of socalled ‘hard Brexit’.
Speaking at an election rally in Bolton last night, Mrs May said: ‘ Give me the mandate to fight for Britain and give me the mandate to deliver for Britain.’
Mr Corbyn, who will launch his campaign today, dismissed Mrs May’s argument that she needs a fresh mandate to deliver Brexit, and taunted her over her refusal to agree to a live TV debate. In her statement announcing her plan for a snap election on Tuesday, Mrs May said Britain would go to the polls on June 8 specifically to strengthen her mandate to deliver the result of last year’s historic EU referendum.
She singled out opposition to Brexit from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the ‘unelected’ House of Lords as her reason for going to the polls.
‘It will give us clarity of position’