Boris: Tory MPS will rally to stop May’s customs union surrender

BORIS JOHNSON has insisted Tory MPS will not allow Theresa May to “surrender” to Jeremy Corbyn after she paved the way for a Brexit deal with him that keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU.

Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, the former foreign secretary said such a deal would mean Britain had no control over its trade policy and predicted it “cannot, must not and will not happen”.

It came as Mrs May gave the clearest signal yet that she would agree a customs union deal with Mr Corbyn this week by saying a “cross-party” deal was the only way forward and that “it will mean compromise on both sides”.

Meanwhile, Andrea Leadsom, one of the most committed Brexiteers in the Cabinet, signalled a softening of red lines among Leave-backing ministers

‘If she does a deal with Corbyn and it is a customs union, she will be thrown out. MPS won’t wear it’

as she said “we can’t be purist” about a deal.

Mr Johnson said it was “utterly incredible” that “Marxist Mr Corbyn” had been invited to negotiate a Brexit deal with Mrs May and that she now seemed ready to abandon a manifesto pledge by signing up to a customs union.

Mr Johnson suggested Mr Corbyn’s true motive for taking part in the talks was to “cause division” and that he would eventually walk away without agreeing to anything.

If Britain was outside the EU but inside a customs union, it would be bound by EU tariffs without having any say in setting them, meaning “Slovakia or Lithuania … would have more say over UK trade policy than London”, Mr Johnson writes.

One senior Brexiteer said the party would remove Mrs May from Downing Street if she tried to commit the UK to a customs union. The MP said: “If she does a deal with Corbyn and it is a customs union, she will be thrown out. The Cabinet won’t wear it, MPS won’t wear it and activists won’t wear it.”

But Mrs May used a video message to say she wanted to deliver a Brexit that “protects jobs” – a phrase described by

Michael Fabricant, the Tory MP, as Labour-speak for a customs union – and “doesn’t disrupt people’s lives”, seen by some as code for a soft Brexit.

One senior Cabinet minister said Mrs May “has decided we have to leave with the support of Labour MPS, otherwise her legacy will be that she was the woman who failed to deliver Brexit”.

The minister added: “Parliament is going to vote for a customs union in one form or another, so unless Tory Brexiteers vote for the existing deal we will end up with a softer Brexit.”

Downing Street has not completely ruled out a fourth vote on Mrs May’s deal, but she said yesterday that there was no prospect of her deal being agreed by Parliament “as things stand”.

On Wednesday, Mrs May will ask the EU to extend Article 50 until June 30, in the hope that a deal can be agreed before then, avoiding the need for the UK to take part in European elections.

Ms Leadsom told the BBC’S Andrew Marr: “Through gritted teeth, we are going to have to listen to what the Labour front bench has to say. Working with Jeremy Corbyn is not something the Prime Minister wants to do, but far worse than that would be to fail to deliver on Brexit.”