May bows to the ‘mutineers’
THERESA MAY is poised to bow to the demands of the Brexit “mutineers” by dropping Britain’s EU exit date from legislation governing the UK’S withdrawal.
David Lidington, the Justice Secretary, said “various constructive suggestions” had been made to the Prime Minister and that the Government “will listen” to calls for the exit date to be removed from the Bill. Another senior Cabinet minister told The Daily Telegraph the Government was considering removing the controversial amendment after a series of tight votes earlier this week signalled Mrs May might lose if it was put to the vote.
Dominic Grieve, the leader of the Tory rebels, said that as many as 27 Tory
MPS were prepared to oppose Mrs May’s amendment which proposed to set a legal date and time for leaving the EU.
The rebels were emboldened last night by the news that EU member states have sought legal advice from the European Commission over a possible extension of the two-year negotiation period set out in Article 50.
Pro-brexit ministers had warned Mrs May to back down over the plans to enshrine the Brexit date in law after it became clear the Government would be defeated if it was put to a vote.
At a lunch in the Houses of Parliament, Mr Lidington said: “As the PM says, various constructive suggestions have been made during the committee debate about how the Bill might be improved and obviously we will listen to ideas coming from colleagues across the House during the Bill’s progress.”
Reacting to the news that the EU27 had sought legal advice, Tom Tugendhat, one of the Tories now threatening to vote against the amendment, said: “It puts control in their hands, not ours, and we have to maintain as much control as possible and flexibility in the negotiations. This is about leaving as quickly as possible but on our terms.”
Mr Grieve told “Chopper’s Brexit Podcast” the amendment to enshrine the Brexit date in law was “idiotic” because it did not allow for last minute changes. He said that if it was put to a vote “I will vote against it”.
A Government source said legal advice to the European Commission was “irrelevant because we will not be extending Article 50, we will have left at the end of March 2019, and whatever happens, Article 50 can only be extended with the unanimous agreement of all 28 member states.”
Last night David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, warned the EU not to allow its demands for more money from Britain to scupper a deal. At an economic summit in Germany he referred to the £157 billion of trade between Britain and Germany as he said: “I know that no one would allow short-term interests to risk those hard-earned gains.”
Mr Davis’s attempt to court German industry appeared to backfired as his speech was greeted with incredulous laughter. “This old man is destroying Britain’s future,” said Jürgen Müller, chief executive of SIG, a leading German outsourcing company.
Another added: “He is being a British gentleman, lying with style.”
Before Mr Davis’s speech, Hans-olaf Henkel, former head of the Federation of German Industries, said Germany expected Mr Davis to offer his “unconditional surrender” to the EU’S terms.
It emerged as EU officials said Ireland could not stop Britain opening trade talks in a row over the Northern Ireland border. “There’s a risk of separation talks not making sufficient progress on Ireland, not a risk of Ireland blocking on its own the advancement of Brexit talks,” a senior EU official said.