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PM wins over doubters on customs but faces string of crucial votes

THERESA May was last night close to a deal with Tory Remainers aimed at averting defeat on vital Brexit legislation.

MPs will begin a series of knifeedge votes this afternoon as the Prime Minister tries to overturn a string of defeats inflicted by unelected peers on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Last night she warned Tory MPs that any defeats would embolden Brussels and ‘ undermine’ the prospects of securing a good Brexit deal.

It came as former education secretary Nicky Morgan, a leading Remainer, indicated she would support Mrs May in tomorrow’s vote on an amendment designed to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU.

Mrs Morgan said she would back a compromise plan – with the words ‘customs union’ being replaced with ‘customs arrangements’ – adding that it would help ‘buy time’ for the Prime Minister ahead of a crunch Brussels summit at the end of this month.

Addressing the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs last night, Mrs May said: ‘We must think about the message Parliament will send to the European Union this week. I am trying to negotiate the best deal for Britain.

‘I am confident I can get a deal that allows us to strike our own trade deals while having a border with the EU which is as frictionless as possible. But if the Lords amendments are allowed to stand, that negotiating position will be undermined.’

Mrs May is keen to send a clear message to Brussels and the Lords by showing she can deliver on her Brexit legislation, which transfers EU regulations into UK laws. Ministers have accepted just one minor amendment from the Lords, and will seek to amend or overturn a further 14 in the coming 48 hours.

The crunch moments will come this afternoon – when MPs debate calls for Parliament to be given a so-called meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal – and tomorrow, when they debate the customs union. Tory whips remained nervous last night about the so-called ‘meaningful vote’ amendment, despite concessions last week.

One source warned the outcome could rest on the position of a handful of Brexit- supporting Labour MPs.

The plan, passed by the Lords, would allow Parliament to take charge of negotiations if MPs do not like the deal, effectively undermining Mrs May’s position. Commons sources last night said the amendment represented ‘unprecedented interference’ in the Government’s power to negotiate foreign treaties. Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke said he would back the measure, saying: ‘Without our involvement, the Government will face the same situation it faced last week, when the final agreement comes round, because the Brexiters will give threats and briefings against any deal unless they’re satisfied with it.

‘They will have a veto, and Parliament will have no effective control.’ Fellow Remainer Sarah Wollaston said she was also ‘minded’ to back the ‘meaningful vote’ amendment.

Party whips were last night understood to be close to a deal with Tory Remainers designed to avert defeat tomorrow on the amendment designed to keep Britain in the customs union.

The Lords amendment would require ministers to report back to Parliament on the efforts they had made to keep Britain in a customs union with Brussels. Although largely symbolic, ministers fear it could encourage Brussels to continue stalling on trade talks in the hope for forcing Britain into a customs union.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland predicted the Tory rebellion would fizzle out. ‘We will hang together or we’ll all hang separately,’ he said.

But Mr Clarke said Donald Trump’s hostile approach to trade made it vital to stick close to the customs union and single market. ‘We are going to need it more in the future than we have in the past,’ he said. Dr Wollaston also questioned whether a new trade deal with the US could replace business lost with the EU.

However, others plan to keep their powder dry until next month when they will use the Trade Bill to push for membership of a customs union with the EU.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn is trying to contain a Labour rebellion over membership of the single market. Dozens of his MPs are expected to deny his order to abstain on an amendment that would keep the UK in the European Economic Area, meaning it would still be in the single market.