May attempts to reassure Tories about EU backstop
May faces down her critics in Commons
THERESA MAY yesterday attempted to play down the significance of “insurance policies” to maintain a soft Irish border in any Brexit deal.
The Prime Minister has been under severe pressure from Tory Brexiteers and the Democratic Unionist Party which props up her Government over her proposals to agree a backstop that would either contain provision to extend the standstill post-Brexit transition period to put the UK in a customs territory with the EU.
They worry that the customs plan could leave the UK permanently in close orbit with the EU, while extending the transition could carry a hefty bill.
But Mrs May insisted MPs would have a choice between the two under her proposals, and in any case she expected to reach a trade deal to negate the need for a backstop “well before the end of this Parliament” in spring 2022 .
Mrs May, as expected, faced criticism from Tory MPs on both sides of the Brexit debate during a crunch Commons statement.
But the PM also avoided confrontation with any Brexiteer ‘big beasts’ as David Davis, who has been touted as a potential replacement leader, and Boris Johnson stayed away.
Leading Eurosceptic organiser Steve Baker also withdrew amendments to legislation to be debated on Wednesday which could have tied Mrs May’s hands in talks over the so-called backstop, praising her renewed commitment to the union and condemning aggressive briefings from fellow Brexiteers.
The PM insisted she did not want to either extend the transition period or have to activate the UK’s proposed backstop plan but made clear it would be impossible to reach a deal without a mechanism to maintain a soft border if talks collapse.
Mrs May told the Commons: “Let us remember that all of these steps are about insurance policies that no-one in the UK or the EU wants or expects to use.
“So we cannot let this become the barrier to reaching the future partnership we all want to see.
“We have to explore every possible option to break the impasse and that is what I am doing.”
THERESA MAY has told MPs it may be better for businesses to extend the post-Brexit transition period that would see the UK following Brussels rules than activate a so-called “backstop” plan to maintain a soft Irish Border.
The Prime Minister insisted that firms would only have to adapt to one set of changes if the transition is extended rather than having to adapt to a new UKEU customs territory.
The two proposals form part of a “backstop” plan to maintain a soft Irish border if a trade deal cannot be reached before the current planned transition ends in December 2020.
“There are some limited circumstances in which it could be argued that an extension to the implementation period might be preferable, if we were certain it was only for a short time,” she said.
“For example, a short extension to the implementation period would mean only one set of changes for businesses – at the point we move to the future relationship. But in any such scenario we would have to be out of this implementation period well before the end of this Parliament.”
Mrs May faced a furious response from some Tory MPs after it emerged that the possibility of an extension to the transition period had been discussed by EU leaders in Brussels.
It prompted accusations the UK could be forced to pay billions into EU coffers for months – or even years – to come after it has left bloc.
The PM said while the terms of the withdrawal agreement were now 95 per cent agreed, there remained an “impasse” over the issue of the Irish border.
She made clear, however, she would not accept a situation in which the UK could be kept “indefinitely” in either an extended period of transition or a backstop which tied the UK to EU customs rules.
“We would not accept a position in which the UK, having negotiated in good faith an agreement which prevents a hard border in Northern Ireland, nonetheless finds itself locked into an alternative, inferior arrangement against our will,” she said.
Mrs May, however, faced criticism from all sides of the Tory Party.
Rotherham-born Conservative former Cabinet Minister Justine Greening pressed the case for a second referendum if Parliament fails to support Mrs May’s deal, noting: “The only inevitable way forward, whether we like it or not, will then be to allow people to decide by either a second referendum or a General Election – and the former would surely be preferable to the latter.”
Tory Brexiteer Jacob ReesMogg said the transition period appeared to be up for further negotiation, with the UK “not sure where we’re going”, adding: “Does the Prime Minister know where we’re going?”
Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman for the Democratic Unionists propping up Mrs May’s Government, said the backstop for the Irish border is “neither necessary and is damaging” as he sought assurances that any such arrangement would require support from the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Government had been forced to consider extending the transition period as a result of “its own incompetence”.
He added: “Their Brexit negotiations have been a litany of missed deadlines, shambolic failure and now they’re begging for extra time.”
Meanwhile former Cabinet Ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson denied undermining the PM after meeting the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels.
Mr Duncan Smith said: “We are presenting some ideas which we think are constructive and we had a constructive discussion. Now we are going to go back and talk to the Government about it.”