DERELICTION OF HIS DUTY
As May is poised to trigger Article 50, MPs from ALL sides savage Brexit Minister David Davis for a ‘grossly negligent’...
THERESA MAY’S plan to trigger Britain’s formal exit from the EU within 48 hours was thrown into chaos by two bombshell developments last night.
First, Brexit Secretary David Davis was castigated by an influential group of MPs from all parties for being illprepared for a ‘no deal’ exit if talks with Brussels end in deadlock.
In a scathing verdict, MPs warned that it would be a ‘dereliction of duty’ if the Government allowed the UK to crash out of the EU unprepared.
And the Tory Party was further rocked by fresh infighting over Brexit, with Chancellor Philip Hammond caught in the crossfire. Pro-EU former
Minister Anna Soubry claimed Brexiteers in the party were trying to ‘pick off’ the Chancellor – who has warned against a ‘hard Brexit’ – by stoking controversy over his Budget.
The report by MPs on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said leaving the EU without planning for a deal would be ‘destructive’ and lead to ‘mutually assured damage for the EU and the UK’. The choice of words appears to be a deliberate attempt to conjure up the famous Cold War term, ‘mutually assured destruction’ – or MAD –which described the risk of Armageddon should Russia and America launch simultaneous nuclear attacks on each other.
Mr Davis has refused to discuss planning for a no-deal Brexit with MPs, saying it would be a pointless ‘exercise in guesswork’. But as the critical report was published, a handful of rebel Tory MPs made a last-ditch bid to force the Prime Minister to give Parliament a vote if Britain leaves the EU with no formal agreement.
Up to ten Tory MPs could vote against the Government or abstain in tomorrow’s key debate sanctioning Mrs May to trigger Article 50. The MPs, including former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, former Chancellor Ken Clarke and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, hope to put pressure on No10 to give MPs more of a say over the UK’s exit terms.
Anti-Brexit Tory MP Alistair Burt today tells The Mail on Sunday that Mrs May should stop ‘dancing around’ and give Parliament a vote.
This newspaper has also learned that Ms Morgan held a secret meeting with Mr Davis on Thursday evening in an attempt to strike a lastditch deal.
But the Brexit rebels are divided: while some say they could be won round by an assurance from Mr Davis that Parliament would be given ‘a say’ if the talks break down, others said this was meaningless without the promise of a veto – and vowed to vote against the Government in the hope of encouraging the Lords to block the legislation again. However, the Upper House is unlikely to hold up the process any further.
Mrs May enters this critical Brexit week as she tries to recover from the first major political setback of her premiership, after the Chancellor sparked a storm of protest for raising National Insurance contributions for the self employed in his first Budget.
Mrs Soubry, one of the ten rebels, highlighted Tory divisions when she claimed the controversy had been fuelled by ‘the Brexit brigade’, whom she accused of trying to ‘pick off Mr Hammond because he is opposed to walking away from the EU with no deal’. She added: ‘It is petty in the extreme.’
Last night, No 10 said that Mrs May was in no mood to back down from triggering Britain’s withdrawal from the EU – and dismissed claims that several Cabinet Ministers have expressed ‘grave doubts’ in private about the economic risk of a ‘hard Brexit’.
If, as expected, the Government wins tomorrow’s vote and the Lords does not delay the process, Mrs May hopes to sign Article 50, starting the two-year Brexit negotiations, on Tuesday.
Most experts regard that as ‘the point of no return’ for Britain’s links with the EU – although some dispute that.
The all-party Foreign Affairs Committee said there was a ‘real possibility’ of Britain leaving the EU without a deal – and there was ‘no evidence’ the Government was seriously preparing for that.
Criticising Mr Davis’s stance, the MPs said: ‘The consequences of such a failure [to reach a deal] are far from “an exercise in guesswork”. They are largely predictable and... have been predicted. A complete breakdown in negotiations represents a very destructive outcome leading to mutually assured damage for the EU and the UK.’
The possibility of ‘no deal’ is real enough to justify planning for it, said the MPs.
The committee, which previously reprimanded David Cameron for ‘gross negligence’ for not planning for the possibility of a ‘Leave’ victory in the EU referendum, issued the same stern warning to Mrs May.
‘Making an equivalent mistake would constitute a serious dereliction of duty by the present adminis-
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‘If we will walk away from a bad deal, planning for that is essential’
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Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs in a Commons debate in January that talking about a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be ‘an exercise in guesswork’
tration,’ the MPs said, adding she should order every Whitehall department to draw up ‘no deal’ contingency plans.
Far from weakening her Brexit negotiating hand, the MPs said, it would strengthen it by making it clear to the EU that her threat to quit without a deal was not a bluff. Committee chairman Crispin Blunt, a former Tory Minister, said: ‘The Government has repeatedly said that it will walk away from a “bad” final deal. That makes preparing for “no deal” all the more essential.
‘The responsibility on the negotiators is substantial.’
The MPs’ report also raised questions over a number of issues including: the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU; confusion over visas Britons may need to visit EU countries; the future of the European Health Insurance Cards, which give Britons access to healthcare abroad; and the possible reintroduction of roaming mobile phone charges. Mr Davis hit back last night, saying he was ‘confident’ of achieving a ‘comprehensive agreement on free trade’. He said he had already told Ministers to make plans for ‘all potential Brexit outcomes’.
Urging Tory rebels to call off their attempt to change the Brexit Bill, Mr Davis told The Mail on Sunday: ‘However they voted in the referendum, the majority of people now want the Prime Minister to be able to get on with the job.
‘By a majority of four to one, MPs passed straightforward legislation allowing the Government to move ahead with no strings attached. Tomorrow I will ask MPs to send the legislation back to the Lords in its original form so we can start building a global Britain and a strong new partnership with the EU.’
He received strong backing from Mrs May. A source close to No10 said: ‘The Prime Minister fully supports Mr Davis. Our position could not be more clear.’