Tory civil war erupts again as Rees-mogg warns Brexit may split party
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Reesmogg faced a backlash from fellow Conservative MPS after suggesting Theresa May could split her party and collapse the government unless she delivers the right Brexit deal.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Rees-mogg, tipped as a potential Tory leader, warned the Prime Minister that backsliding on her promise to leave the single market and customs union would divide Conservatives like Sir Robert Peel, who plunged the party into the political wilderness for nearly three decades over the Corn Laws.
He faced a deluge of negative reactions from Conservative MPS who told him to “shut up” and warned that there was no majority in parliament or among the public for a no-deal Brexit, which some claim Mr Rees-mogg wants.
The latest divisions on the Tory benches come ahead of a crunch meeting of the Cabinet at Chequers on Friday to thrash out the government’s plans for the future relationship with Brussels.
Reports suggest ministers have been briefed by Mrs May’s chief Europe adviser, Olly Robbins, that the EU will not offer a “bespoke” Brexit deal, and that the only realistic options are the Norway model – staying in the single market with little influence over EU rules – or a Canadian-style free-trade deal imposing new barriers that businesses say would be unacceptable.
A source was quoted in the Times saying ministers came out of the meeting with Mr Robbins thinking “we were even more screwed than we were before”.
DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds held talks with the Prime Minister in Downing Street yesterday, with Mr Dodds warning the DUP “doesn’t give blank cheques to anybody” despite the party’s agreement to support the government.
Customs proposals discussed on Friday will determine the future of the Irish border, with the DUP resisting a ‘backstop’ plan to prevent a hard border that could instead see barriers placed between Northern Ireland and the UK.
Number 10 would not be drawn on separate reports that the Cabinet will be presented with a new option for post Brexit customs in a bid to break the deadlock over the Irish border.
Responding to Mr Reesmogg’s comments, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Our focus is on delivering the will of the British people.”
Updating MPS on last week’s EU Council meeting, Mrs May insisted the UK would not be staying in the European single market as a member of the EEA after Brexit.
Asked to rule out “disturbing reports” by the Brexiteer Bill Cash, the Prime Minister said: “The EEA is not right because the EEA – and particularly in the form that the European Commission has proposed it – would not deliver on the vote of the referendum and the vote of the British people.”
In his Telegraph article, Mr Rees-mogg wrote: “Theresa May must stand firm for what she herself has promised. One former Tory leader, Sir Robert Peel, decided to break his manifesto pledge and passed legislation with the majority of his party voting the other way. This left the Conservatives out of office for 28 years. At least he did so for a policy that works. At Chequers [Mrs May] must stick to her righteous cause and deliver what she has said she would, she must use her undoubted grace to persevere.”
The intervention from the head of the European Research Group of pro-brexit backbench Tories drew a furious backlash.
Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan accused him of “insolence”, claiming his comments risked “debasing” the government, Tory Party and the country as a whole.
“The ideological right are a minority despite their noise and should pipe down,” he added.