Cabinet signs up to May’s Brexit deal
Ministers agree plan to keep close ties with EU after day locked away at Chequers
THERESA MAY won her battle with Eurosceptic ministers last night as she announced that the Cabinet has signed up to a Brexit deal that keeps Britain tied to EU rules and regulations indefinitely. The Prime Minister said Britain would establish a “free trade area for goods” with the EU, allowing for frictionless trade and avoiding the need for a hard border in Northern Ireland.
A new customs arrangement will treat the UK and EU “as if [they are] a combined customs territory” and Britain will adopt a “common rule book” with the EU on industrial goods and agricultural products.
The deal amounted to a significant victory for Remainers in the Cabinet, as it keeps Britain closely aligned with the EU Customs Union and Single Market and is largely the “soft” Brexit they sought. There were no resignations from Leave-supporting ministers, but some Eurosceptic Tory MPS viewed the deal as a “total betrayal” by both the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
A three-page statement released last night was similar to a document partially leaked to the media on Thursday which Leave-supporting Tory MPS had dismissed as “not Brexit”.
Critics said the deal would make it difficult to strike global trade deals and leave Britain as a “rule taker”.
Downing Street insisted the deal had the support of every Cabinet minister, and in a letter to Tory MPS last night Mrs May made it clear that dissent would no longer be tolerated.
She said that while ministers had been allowed to express their own views “as we developed our policy on Brexit”, agreement on the Chequers proposal “marks the point where that is no longer the case and collective responsibility is now fully restored”.
It was claimed last night that Mrs May had told Remainers in the Cabinet that she is now prepared to sack Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, if he publicly argues against the plan.
Sources inside Chequers said that Mrs May had made it clear to Brexiteers that if they rejected her plan, MPS would simply vote to keep Britain in the Customs Union. Mrs May must now win Parliament’s backing for the deal before facing the acid test of seeking Brussels’s agreement to her blueprint.
Allies of the Prime Minister fear that if the deal is rejected by the Right-wing of the Tory Party she could face a confidence vote within days. Mrs May will address all Conservative MPS on Monday evening in an attempt to win them over. The Chequers deal includes plans for a “facilitated customs arrangement” – the Prime Minister’s so-called “third way” on customs that allows the UK to set its own trade tariffs and strike global trade deals.
It will have a “phased introduction”, becoming operational “in stages”, raising questions over whether the transition period will be extended beyond December 2020. While Britain will adopt EU rules and regulations for goods, the deal will not apply to services, and a “parliamentary lock” on all new rules and regulations means MPS would have to decide whether to adopt future changes brought in by Brussels
The deal promises to end free movement, but a “mobility framework” described in the document says citizens can continue to travel and “apply for study and work”, and contains no mention of visas. Previously, the Government suggested citizens would already have to have a job before they could travel. Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, tweeted that the proposal was “to be welcomed” and the EU would now “assess the proposals to see if they are a workable and realistic view of European Commission guidelines”.
He had earlier said that the EU was ready to “adapt” its position if the Prime Minister softened her position on taking the UK out of the Single Market, Customs Union and jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
‘Collective responsibility is now fully restored’
IT WAS arguably the biggest meeting of Theresa May’s premiership and the Prime Minister had stage-managed every moment of the Cabinet’s awayday at Chequers.
As ministers arrived at the Prime Minister’s official country retreat yesterday morning, they were stripped of their mobile phones. Such was the air of paranoia surrounding the showdown that Mrs May did not trust her ministers not to text, call or Whatsapp members of the media during what was scheduled to be a 12-hour session.
Even before they had arrived at the Buckinghamshire manor house, ministers who had briefed against their Prime Minister got a taste of their own medicine. Downing Street sources told a political website that any “ego driven” ministers who decided to resign would be replaced by a “talented new generation” and quickly forgotten.
Allies of the Prime Minister said a “full reshuffle plan” was in place before the meeting, and even suggested that
‘Even before they arrived, ministers who had briefed against their PM got a taste of their own medicine’
one or two resignations might be “a sensible amount of blood-letting” as it would show that Mrs May was prepared to stand up to ministers and show leadership.
The source said: “A select number of ego-driven, leadership-dominated Cabinet ministers need to support the PM in the best interests of the UK – or their spots will be taken by a talented new generation of MPS who will sweep them away... it is a cold world outside government.”
To prove she was serious, Mrs May arranged for Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, to meet up-and-coming junior ministers on Thursday to sound them out about their ambitions. Word of the meetings was then leaked to the media, ensuring that the likes of Boris Johnson and David Davis got the message.
Mrs May had even scrambled her predecessor David Cameron on Thursday night to talk Boris Johnson out of any thoughts of resigning, reminding him that as the man who led the charge towards Brexit, he had a duty to see it through to the end. His duty done, Mr Cameron then spent yesterday watching the tennis from the Royal Box at Wimbledon, where he was seen with his head in his hands, presumably over a wayward shot rather than any news on the Brexit discussions.
The most Machiavellian tactic employed by Downing Street was a tip-off to the Politico website that business cards for a taxi firm called Aston’s had been left in the foyer of Chequers for any minister who decided “they can’t face making the right decision for the country”. Number 10 was making the point that ministerial cars would be immediately forfeited by anyone who quit, meaning they would need a taxi for the 40-mile trip back to London.
However, inquiries by The Daily Telegraph revealed that Aston’s is no longer trading, suggesting that Downing Street had either got its facts wrong or, even more darkly, that it gives ministers a number for a non-existent taxi firm to make them think again if they try to quit. By the time they gathered at Chequers, some ministers had readied themselves for a long day ahead. Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury tweeted a picture of a slice of bacon-topped pizza, saying it was “pre-chequers fortification”.
Later, photographs of the 23 Cabinet ministers chatting to each other in the Great Hall were released. After their coffee and chat in the Great Hall, it was down to business in the Hawtrey Room, as Mrs May stood and reminded her ministers of why the EU’S Brexit
‘With no air conditioning... sweaty ministers had plenty of incentive to wrap up discussions’
position was unacceptable to Britain.
As she tried to get her ministers to agree to a 120-page document setting out Britain’s Brexit negotiating position, Mrs May’s greatest ally was arguably the heat. With no air conditioning in the 16th century manor house, sweaty ministers had plenty of incentive to wrap up discussions and get back into their climate-controlled limousines. Over a buffet lunch the discussions continued, and a BBC camera caught long-range images of Mr Johnson waving his arms to Mrs May to emphasise his point.
At 2pm the ministers gathered in the Grand Parlour for the centrepiece of the day: agreeing a deal on customs and trade. By 6pm Brexiteers had been whipped into line, agreeing to what can only be termed a soft Brexit.
Outside, TV journalists had to stand in fields to present live updates from the meeting, though with little to go on for much of the day Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’S political editor, resorted to tweeting pictures of sheep. But by the time the ministers sat down to dinner the arguments were over. At 7pm Downing Street released a three-page statement setting out the Brexit deal, without a resignation in sight.