IT’S MY DEAL... OR NO BREXIT
Prime Minister finally wins Cabinet backing after a stormy five-hour meeting at No 10 But she warns rebel MPs Britain could remain in EU if they vote against her
THERESA May hailed a “decisive step” towards Brexit last night after narrowly winning the backing of her Cabinet for her draft deal with the EU.
Following five hours of bad-tempered wrangling in Downing Street, senior ministers agreed by a wafer-thin majority to support the deal thrashed out with Brussels negotiators.
MPs now face a choice between backing her deal or “no deal or no Brexit at all”, she said.
The Prime Minister said: “I believe that what I owe to this country is to take decisions that are in the national interest, and I firmly believe with my head and my heart that this is a decision which is in the best interests of our entire United Kingdom.”
Cabinet insiders said around 10 ministers raised deep misgivings about the deal, with the final decision to back the deal being far from unanimous.
Despite her success in persuading her Cabinet to back her plans, Mrs May yesterday faced a growing revolt among Tory MPs.
Some backbenchers warned of a fresh attempt to try to oust her from office, demanding a vote of confidence in her leadership within days.
Mrs May also faced a showdown with Arlene Foster, leader of her parliamentary allies in the Democratic Unionist Party, over the potential impact of the deal on Northern Ireland.
Threatening to end their alliance, Mrs Foster said of the deal: “Of course there will be consequences. We could not as Unionists support a deal that broke up the United Kingdom.”
In her statement outside the front door of 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister said the Cabinet had completed “a long, detailed and impassioned debate” on the draft withdrawal agreement and a declaration on a future trade relationship between Britain and the EU and come to a “collective” agreement.
She said: “I firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be negotiated, and it was for the Cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks.”
Mrs May admitted her Cabinet had faced “difficult” choices, particularly over the so-called “Northern Ireland backstop” insurance policy to avoid a hard border with the Irish republic.
She said: “The collective decision of Cabinet was that the Government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration. This is a decisive step which enables us to move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead.
“These decisions were not taken lightly but I believe it is a decision that is firmly in the national interest.
“When you strip away the detail, the choice before us is clear. This deal which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws and borders; ends free movement; protects jobs, security and our union; or leave with no deal – or no Brexit at all.”
Looking ahead to the Commons battle over the deal, she added: “I know that there will be difficult days ahead.
“This is a decision which will come under intense scrutiny and that is entirely as it should be and entirely understandable.
“But the choice was this deal, which enables us to take back control and to build a brighter future for our country, or going back to square one with more division, more uncertainty and a failure to deliver on the referendum.
“It is my job as Prime Minister to explain the decisions that the Government has taken and I stand ready to do that beginning tomorrow with a statement in Parliament.”
One senior MP said anger was so intense among backbenchers that a call for a vote of no confidence could be made today.
Benjamin Harris-Quinney, of the centre-Right Tory Bow Group, said: “If you are an MP who cannot support Theresa May’s Brexit deal, such is its significance, you surely cannot continue to support her premiership.”
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a news conference in Brussels the draft agreement represented a “decisive crucial step in
concluding these negotiations”. On the Northern Ireland backstop, he said if there was no final agreement at the end of the transition in December 2020 they would create an “EU-UK single customs territory”.
“Northern Ireland will therefore remain in this same customs territory as the rest of the UK,” he said.
“In addition Northern Ireland will remain aligned to those rules of the single market that are essential for avoiding a hard border.
“The UK would apply the EU’s customs code in Northern Ireland. It would allow Northern Irish businesses to bring goods in the single market without restrictions which is essential to avoid a hard border.”
Mr Barnier said the draft agreement made clear Northern Ireland would retain “unfettered market access to the rest of the UK”.
“For competition to be open and fair in such a single customs territory we have agreed provisions on state aid, competition, taxation, social and environmental standards.
“This will guarantee that both EU and UK manufacturing will compete on a level playing field.
“An essential condition for the single customs territory to cover fisheries... will be to agree between the Union and the UK on access to waters and fishing opportunities.”