‘Theresa May must break her manifesto pledge to leave customs union’
Justice Secretary urges Prime Minister to accept the will of Parliament if it votes for a softer Brexit
THERESA MAY could have to “accept” the UK staying in the customs union and break a 2017 general election manifesto pledge, a Cabinet minister said.
David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, has been behind attempts to thwart a no-deal Brexit, said the Prime Minister could not afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it united around a “softer” Brexit.
Despite MPS rejecting Mrs May’s deal for a third time, Downing Street has made clear that she intends to bring it back for a fourth vote later this week, possibly as part of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to avoid Speaker John Bercow disallowing it.
However, this would be a high risk strategy as it would allow MPS to vote down the Bill, which would kill it once and for all. One source said: “It is high stakes.” The House of Commons will today hold a second round of “indicative votes” on alternatives to the Prime Minister’s deal. Mrs May is expected to tell her Cabinet to abstain in the voting to avoid laying bare a split over whether to back a no-deal Brexit or keeping the UK in the customs union.
Last night a lobbying effort was in full swing with claims from one Eurosceptic MP that two Government ministers were ringing around Tory MPS urging them to support the customs union vote tomorrow.
Nick Boles, one of the MPS behind the measure dubbed Common Market 2.0, said on Twitter that Conservative whips “are actively briefing against Common Market 2.0.
“I would like to make one thing clear to [chief whip] Julian Smith. If you want us to carry on voting for the PM’S Withdrawal Agreement, you need to stop trying to scupper alternatives.”
Mrs May has so far strongly rejected the idea of a customs union, saying it went against the Conservative election manifesto and would prevent Britain striking trade deals around the world.
The Cabinet divides between 13 ministers who back no deal, against 10 who back staying in a customs union, according to multiple authoritative soundings taken by The Daily Telegraph yesterday. Four are undecided.
Those backing no deal include Stephen Barclay, Liam Fox and Alun Cairns against Amber Rudd, Greg Clark and Philip Hammond for a customs union. One senior Cabinet minister said: “It is coming down to a pretty binary choice.”
Pressure is mounting on Mrs May, with 170 Tory MPS – including 10 members of the Cabinet – writing to her urging her to take the UK out of the EU quickly as possible.
Mr Gauke said that while he believed the deal still remained the best option, the Government had to accept that – so far – it did not have the numbers to get it through Parliament. If MPS coalesced around a plan by veteran Tory Kenneth Clarke for a customs union – which came closest to securing a majority in the last round of votes – ministers should consider it, he said.
Mr Gauke told the BBC’S The Andrew Marr Show: “If Parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I don’t think it’s sustainable to ignore Parliament’s position and therefore leave without a deal.”
He added: “I think we also have to recognise my party does not have the votes to get its manifesto position through the House of Commons at the moment. We are in an environment when it is not just about going for your first choice. Sometimes you do have to accept your second or third choice in order to avoid an outcome you consider to be even worse.”
If a majority of MPS support a customs union today then former minister Sir Oliver Letwin, who is leading the initiative, could try to pass the commitment into law on Wednesday.
Any move to accept a customs union would infuriate Brexiteers and would almost certainly lead to ministerial resignations. No. 10 hopes that pressure will lead to more Brexiteers reluctantly backing Mrs May’s deal after it cut the majority against it from 230 and 149 in the first two votes to 58 on Friday.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “We are committed to delivering the Brexit deal – which does not include membership of the customs union.”
Members of Parliament are “rewarding chaos” by accepting an inflationbusting 2.7 per cent pay rise today and should hand it to charity, critics say. The MPS’ pay increase is well above the current inflation rate of 1.8 per cent, increasing their annual salary by £2,089 from £77,379 to £79,468.
Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank, said: “Public sector salaries… should be set based on performance, just as they are for the majority of those who work in the private sector. Judging by this government’s failure to meet their own Brexit deadline last week, a 2.7 per cent pay rise today seems overly generous, rewarding chaos rather than success.”