May strikes a deal with Tory rebels

Leading Brexiteers give their backing to ‘customs arrangement’ amendment to EU Withdrawal Bill

THERESA MAY last night agreed a compromise over EU customs negotiations to head off a Tory rebellion over key Brexit votes this week.

A peace deal was brokered by Sir Oliver Letwin, Mrs May’s former Europe adviser, that should mean the Government avoids defeat during two days of votes over the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Tory rebels and Government whips spent hours locked in talks yesterday over two House of Lords amendments to the Bill which demand a “meaningful vote” for MPS on the final Brexit deal and require ministers to make joining a customs union one of their negotiating objectives.

Defeat on either amendment could have thwarted Mrs May’s Brexit plans, but Steve Baker, a Brexit minister, said the Government would now go into this week’s votes with “considerable confidence” as a result of the compromise.

The Government will back an amendment to the Bill tabled by Sir Oliver which will require ministers to report to Parliament on their efforts to reach a “customs arrangement” with the EU.

Crucially, the phrase “customs union” does not appear in the amendment, which has been backed by rebels including Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary. The rebels have also agreed to back down over the “meaningful vote” amendment as part of the deal with Mrs May.

Brexiteers including Jacob Reesmogg, Sir Bill Cash and Theresa Villiers have made it clear they are comfortable with the compromise.

Ms Morgan said the deal “buys them time”, though the rebels are still expected to fight the Government by backing hostile amendments to the Trade and Customs Bills next month.

Mrs May now believes she can avoid defeat on all 14 of the amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill. The “meaningful vote” amendment will be voted on today, with the customs union vote coming tomorrow. She told a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPS last night: “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... if the Lords amendments are allowed to stand, that negotiating

‘We must think about the message Parliament will send to the European Union this week’

position will be undermined.”

There was less positive news when David Davis returned from Brussels empty-handed yesterday after Michel Barnier rejected major parts of Britain’s “backstop” customs plan to avoid a hard border in Ireland. Mr Barnier also turned down a request to speed up work on preparing a joint declaration of the future UK-EU trading relations.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn was facing a split in his own party as Labour MPS from Leave-supporting areas urged him not to “ignore” public concerns about immigration.

The group warned staying in the single market “would be the opposite of what the public voted for”.

 Theresa May warned Donald Trump that he must not “ignore” European leaders after bitter clashes over tariffs at the G7 summit. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs May said: “As long-standing allies, we do not make progress by ignoring each other’s concerns; rather, we do so by addressing them together.”