Cabinet split as they warn PM: We can’t keep on backing you
CABINET ministers are to demand a ‘Plan B’ for Brexit if Theresa May’s deal is heavily defeated tonight.
Senior Tory sources warned that the Prime Minister could not expect indefinite support for her plan if the Government is routed in tonight’s vote.
They said ministers will demand that she finally takes sides in the Cabinet battle over whether to pursue a softer Brexit or try to manage the worst effects of a ‘no-deal’ exit from the EU.
Allies of Mrs May last night indicated she would tell MPs tonight that she will continue to pursue her deal even if it is heavily defeated.
‘What alternative is there?’ said one ally. ‘The EU has been very clear that this is the deal that is on the table.’
Mrs May said: ‘Nobody has yet come up with an alternative Brexit deal that is negotiable and that delivers on the result of the referendum.’
Last month’s failed attempt by Brexiteers to oust Mrs May means she cannot face another challenge from Tory backbenchers until the end of the year. However, senior Tories warned that she still has to retain the confidence of the Cabinet if she is to remain in post.
One Cabinet source said: ‘She is going to have to show more of her hand than she has until now. If we lose by 100 or 200, she cannot just carry on as if nothing has happened. It’s the definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.’
Mrs May is being pulled in different directions by rival factions in the Cabinet, with some wanting a ‘soft’ Brexit alternative and others wanting a ‘managed no deal’.
One grouping, which includes the Prime Minister’s deputy David Lidington, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Business Secretary Greg Clark,
‘What alternative is there?’
urging her to pursue a softer Brexit xit if her deal is defeated tonight.
They are motivated by concern rn about the potential impact of a nodeal obs. Brexit on the economy and jobs.
The group, which is also expected to receive the backing of Chancellor or Philip Hammond, believes a crossparty ssht consensus in Parliament might back a plan involving permanent nt membership of the customs union.
That idea was specifically ruled out ut yesterday by Mrs May, who said an ‘independent trade policy’ – which ch would be impossible in a customs ms union – was one of the key opportunities nibiey of Brexit.
But one senior figure in the Cabinet’s soft Brexit grouping said they believed Mrs May would eventually lly side with them to avoid no deal.
Mrs May is being pulled in the opposite ose direction by a rival group whose members include former remainers rs such as Foreign Secretary Jeremy my Hunt, Home Secretary Sajid Javid, d, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz iz Truss and Defence Secretary Gavin n Williamson, as well as Brexiteers rs such as International Development nt Secretary Penny Mordaunt, International ad Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Commons leader andrea Leadsom.
This group believes a softer Brexit t would not honour the result of f the 2016 referendum. Supporters s acknowledge that a no-deal Brexit t would be ‘disruptive’, but think the e worst effects could be contained.
asked whether he agreed with the e assessment that a no- deal Brexit t would be ‘disastrous’, Mr Williamson n said: ‘not at all, Britain has always s been a nation that will always s achieve and will always deliver.’
at least one Cabinet backer of f the idea has even suggested that Mrs May should call an election for early april to ensure that MPs are unable to block the UK’s exit at the end of March.