WAR CABINET
As May warns ‘it’s my deal, no deal or no Brexit’... it’s revealed 11 ministers rejected her proposals... and 40 Tory rebels are plotting to bring her down
EMBATTLED Theresa May squared up to Tory opponents of her Brexit deal in a make-or-break showdown.
She warned them they must back her, or face a no-deal exit, or even no Brexit.
The PM pushed her plan through a bruising Cabinet meeting in which 11 ministers opposed her. At least 40 Tory MPs are backing a no-confidence vote.
Mrs May said it was “the best that could be negotiated” but Jeremy Corbyn blasted it as a “failure in its own terms”.
THERESA May sensationally warned MPs last night to back her deal for quitting the EU or risk “no Brexit at all”.
Issuing an ultimatum outside No10, minutes after her warring Cabinet reluctantly agreed on her plan, the Prime Minister said it was “the best that could be negotiated”.
And she warned MPs that if they failed to vote for it in Parliament, the UK could crash out without a deal or even not depart at all.
She said: “The choice before us is clear: this deal, which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security and our Union; or leave with no deal, or no Brexit at all.”
But Mrs May was last night warned she could be ousted from No10 imminently amid a growing Tory backbench rebellion.
Her plan won Cabinet support after a brutal five-hour showdown.
Having faced rebellion from 11 of 29 ministers, she emerged visibly drained at 7.20pm and announced they had signed off on her deal.
She hailed the “collective” decision, saying: “This is a decisive step which enables us to move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead.
“These decisions were not taken lightly, but I believe it is firmly in the national interest.”
Mrs May added: “I firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the UK.”
But she admitted there were still “difficult days ahead”.
There will be a Brexit summit in Brussels at the end of the month for EU leaders to approve the deal. That will be followed by a crucial Commons vote on it by MPs.
Brexiteer Tories quickly launched a fresh plot to dump Mrs May as leader.
Senior MPs from the European Research Group, chaired by Brexiteer Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, last night began submitting letters for a vote of no confidence. Mr Rees-Mogg simultaneously wrote to every Tory MP urging them to vote against the deal. To trigger a vote of no confidence, 48 letters from Tory MPs – 15% of the parliamentary party – must be submitted to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee. The tally before yesterday was rumoured to be as high as 40. One Brexiteer Tory MP last night said it was “tantalisingly close”. A second Brexiteer Tory MP suggested a vote of no confidence could be triggered as early as today.
Earlier, there was shambles as minister Nick Hurd wrongly told MPs that Mrs May had axed plans for a statement to the press on the Cabinet meeting outcome.
The Tories were then forced to issue an statement that it would go ahead. Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who has called for Mrs May’s removal, said: “Catastrophe and calamity. What an utter, total mess.”
The Cabinet had gathered at 2pm, shortly after Mrs May urged MPs to back the agreement. Both Remain and Leave-backing ministers grilled her about the 565-page EU withdrawal agreement, which was published at 7.45pm.
The draft sparked waves of condemnation from Brexits upporting Tory backbenchers.
It involves the UK remaining in a customs union and commits to a “level playing field” on EU rules in areas such as environmental and workplace protections during a backstop period after Brexit.
Mrs May told the Commons: “Any backstop has to be temporary.” But Brexiteers fear it will commit the
UK indefinitely, leaving it unable to forge trade deals elsewhere. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: “This isn’t Brexit, it’s not even close to Brexit. If it were darts, it’s not missing the board, this is not even the right wall.”
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier hailed it as a “decisive crucial step in concluding these negotiations”.
Addressing the Northern Ireland issue, he said if there was no final agreement on it at the end of the transition, in December 2020, there would be a “EU-UK single customs territory” to avoid a hard border.
He said: “Northern Ireland will remain in this same customs territory as the rest of the UK.” It came after DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party props up Mrs May’s minority government, warned: “We could not support a deal that broke up the United Kingdom.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell and 12 other Scottish Tory MPs said they could not back a deal which failed to restore “full sovereignty” over UK fishing waters.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn blasted the draft deal as “a failure in its own terms”, and a party source told the Mirror the “likelihood” was Labour would vote against it.
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who led the Leave campaign, said: “Any Cabinet member who is a genuine Brexiteer must now resign or never be trusted again, this is the worst deal in history.”