‘No deal is better than caving in to Brussels’
Cabinet Eurosceptics to warn May that EU’S demands will lock UK into customs union
THERESA MAY will today be warned by senior Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers that leaving the EU without a deal will be better than giving in to Brussels’ demands on Brexit.
Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, and leading Eurosceptics including Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox are expected to warn the Prime Minister at today’s Cabinet meeting that the EU’S demands are “totally unacceptable”.
They were last night due to meet for drinks at Dr Fox’s office to discuss concerns that Brussels is refusing to back down over the issue of a customs “backstop” with the EU.
They were expected to be joined by Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, and Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary, who all fear Britain could be locked into a customs union with the EU.
Yesterday Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, was accused of attempting to force the Prime Minister’s hand after reportedly suggesting that a deal would be ready for Mrs May to present to Cabinet today.
However, The Daily Telegraph understands talks with Brussels broke down at 2.45am yesterday after Olly Robbins, the lead Brexit negotiator, told his EU counterpart that he could not “go back to Cabinet” with the proposals.
Downing Street said that the reports about Mr Barnier should be treated with a “bucket” of salt and The Telegraph understands a proposed Brexit deal is not on today’s Cabinet agenda.
Writing in this newspaper today, Lord Hague, the former foreign secretary, says that if Brussels refuses to back down, Mrs May and her Cabinet must start “fully preparing the country to leave without a deal”. He says: “With little more than four months to go and no deal agreed, any set of ministers would need to do this, just as countless Cabinets before them have had to prepare for eventualities they did not want to see realised, from wars to recessions to natural disasters. It would be irresponsible not to do so, and whoever replaced anyone resigning would have to do it anyway.”
Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London last night, Mrs May said: “Overwhelmingly, the British people want us to get on with delivering Brexit, and I am determined to deliver for them.
“I want them to know that I will not compromise on what people voted for in the referendum. This will not be an agreement at any cost.”
The European Commission is preparing to publish its own contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit if there is not a breakthrough in talks by the end of the week.
Mrs May and Brussels are attempting to sign off a deal this week with the intention of securing agreement with EU leaders at a summit this month. Any delay is likely to significantly increase the risk of a no-deal Brexit.
Talks with Brussels foundered on the issue of the customs backstop, which would keep Britain in a customs union with the EU after 2021 in the event that a solution to the Irish border issue cannot be found.
Mr Cox drew up plans for an “independent” review mechanism that would enable Britain to leave the backstop. However, it has been rejected by the EU, which is insisting the European
Court of Justice should have the final say. Mrs Leadsom has already made clear that the failure to secure a break clause will leave the UK “trapped” against its will.
Yesterday, Ms Mordaunt insisted that Cabinet would act as a “check” to ensure that the Prime Minister delivered on the result of the EU referendum.
Three separate EU sources confirmed the Commission’s plans to publish the no-deal document, which will mitigate disruptions only where “vital union interests” are at stake.
The minimalist plan, which has been drafted under the supervision of Martin Selmayr, the EU’S most powerful official, will highlight the chaotic consequences of the UK crashing out without a deal.
Leaked drafts seen by The Telegraph point to the EU taking one-sided measures to protect its commercial interests, while leaving the UK to suffer the consequences of widespread travel and business disruptions.
“If there’s no deal this week, then the Commission will publish the notices and just sit on its hands and let the pressure build,” said a senior EU source. “The UK will just have to make some hard choices.”
Talks with Brussels are focused on the backstop and the EU’S demands that Britain must follow European environmental and social laws as part of a temporary customs arrangement. EU countries, led by France, are also demanding that European fishing fleets have the same access to British waters that they enjoy at present. Justine Greening, the Remain-backing former education secretary, warned that not only was the Prime Minister’s deal unlikely to get parliamentary backing, but “if we accept it as a Parliament it would give us less credibility as a country in the rest of the world”.
Labour will today attempt to force the Government to publish its legal advice on the customs backstop using a parliamentary procedure called a “humble address”.
Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, backed calls for a second referendum on Brexit while Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, contradicted Jeremy Corbyn by saying Brexit could be stopped.
In a speech at the Institute for Government in London, Mr Brown said: “I for one have always said that I think there will be a second referendum, I believe that in the end the situation will have been seen to have changed since 2016 and the people should in the end have the final say.”