CABINET ‘NO DEAL’ REVOLT

EXCLUSIVE: Three Cabinet ministers give May ultimatum

THERESA May is facing the prospect of a Cabinet walkout after three senior ministers signalled they are ready to help force a delay to Brexit to stop a ‘disastrous’ No Deal.

Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark today make clear they are prepared to defy the Prime Minister unless there is a Parliamentary breakthrough on her deal next week.

Writing in the Daily Mail, the trio publicly serve notice that if hardline Tory Brexiteers in the european Research Group scupper a deal they will back other MPs to try to force Mrs May to extend Article 50 and delay Britain’s exit from the eu.

In their joint article, the Cabinet ministers

warn a No Deal departure would wreck the economy, put the defence of the realm in jeopardy and risk the break-up of the UK. They say it remains their hope that Parliament agrees a deal ‘in the next few days’.

But they add: ‘If there is no breakthrough in the coming week, the balance of opinion in Parliament is clear – that it would be better to seek to extend Article 50 and delay our date of departure rather than crash out of the European Union on March 29.

‘It is time that many of our Conservative parliamentary colleagues in the ERG recognised that Parliament will stop a disastrous No Deal Brexit on March 29. If that happens, they will have no one to blame but themselves for delaying Brexit.’

The move comes at the end of an extraordinary week which saw three Tory Remainer MPs quit the party to join eight ex-Labour MPs in a breakaway Independent Group.

Unless Parliament votes through a Brexit deal before Wednesday, MPs are likely to be asked to vote this week on a motion that would effectively take No Deal off the table and

‘No one to blame but themselves’

force the Prime Minister to seek a Brexit delay.

Mrs May believes this would destroy her leverage in Brussels. However, it is understood the Cabinet rebels have indicated privately that they are prepared to resign if necessary to carry out their threat.

They could be joined by up to 20 junior ministers and 100 Tory MPs who, with Labour support, would be certain to defeat Mrs May. On another dramatic day in Westminster:

A hardliner in the European Research Group (ERG) warned up to a dozen MPs would cause ‘carnage’ and ‘effectively end the Government’ if Brexit is delayed;

One report suggested Cabinet ministers believe Mrs May should step down after local elections in May to allow a new leader to conduct the next round of Brexit negotiations;

EU officials claimed British negotiators had given up on securing either a time limit or unilateral exit clause from the Withdrawal Agreement;

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he was ‘more worried than before’ about the talks and said there was a ‘high risk’ of an accidental No Deal;

Labour’s crisis intensified as Jeremy Corbyn was told ‘others will follow’ after a ninth Labour MP, former minister Ian Austin, quit the party;

In their article for the Mail, Work and Pensions Secretary Miss Rudd, Justice Secretary Mr Gauke and Business Secretary Mr Clark are careful to praise Mrs May’s ‘extraordinary determination and resilience’.

But they make it clear they will not shrink from flouting her authority if her deal is blocked again next week – adding that this will mean there is no time to stop a ‘disastrous No Deal’ exit.

The ministers accuse MPs in Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg’s hardline ERG of brushing aside the consequences of a No Deal exit.

In addition to hitting jobs, trade and the economy, it would inflame historic border tensions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, they argue – and ultimately lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom.

The ministers deny they are issuing an ultimatum to Mrs May. ‘The ultimatum is to the ERG,’ said a source close to one. ‘If they don’t see sense and back the PM, Brexit won’t happen next month – on their heads be it. The aim is to make it easier for the PM to face down the ERG.’

Today’s intervention comes ahead of what is expected to be another critical week on Brexit. On Tuesday Mrs May will return from talks with the EU over the weekend to update MPs on progress.

If no agreement has been found over changes to the Northern Ireland back- stop, MPs will have another chance on Wednesday to propose and vote on amendments demanding Mrs May change course.

ARE the ranks of Tory MPs in Westminster incapable of grasping how self-indulgent they look to despairing voters?

At a moment of national crisis, as Theresa May toils to achieve a Brexit deal that honours the referendum, they have embarked on another destructive bout of civil war.

On one side of the battlefield, Remain supporters demand the Prime Minister veers towards a soft departure that risks shackling Britain to the EU. On the other, Brexiteer purists tilt towards a No Deal exit – threatening economic and social chaos.

In the middle, the Prime Minister precariously walks a tight-rope, desperately seeking a compromise acceptable to both wings of her fractured party. Unhelpfully, she is being squeezed in a pincer movement at the most delicate stage of negotiations, when she most needs leeway.

Did the Eurosceptic zealots really need to pipe up yesterday, threatening to ‘bring down’ the Government if Brexit ticks past March 29? By fanning the flames, they endanger the thing they desire – leaving the EU.

Couldn’t the moderates of the self-styled Brexit Delivery Group have kept schtum instead of warning Mrs May she faced mass revolt if the UK sleepwalks into No Deal?

And then into the fray rode three archRemain Cabinet ministers, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Justice Secretary David Gauke and Business Secretary Greg Clark.

In an intervention in the Mail today, they make clear there is zero chance Parliament will allow a ‘disastrous’ No Deal exit, warning it would damage jobs and businesses, weaken national security and jeopardise the integrity of the Union.

If a deal cannot be done in the ‘next few days’, they demand an extension to Article 50 – delaying Brexit, and possibly torpedoing the process.

They do support Mrs May’s deal, which delivers the main requirements of Brexit – taking control of immigration, money and laws, while retaining tariff-free access to the single market. But they are determined to oppose No Deal to avoid damage.

It is a bold strategy and they are all MPs of integrity, but there are risks. If it prompts sackings or resignations, it could trigger events that are entirely unpredictable.

Yes, Labour is even more torn and chaotic than the Government (and that really is saying something). But if Jeremy Corbyn seized the keys to No 10, he and his Marxist clique would drive the economy into a ditch. That would be a national calamity.

Nobody, least of all this paper, wants a damaging No Deal. But we accept that the prospect of leaving without an agreement is the only thing that might force the EU to offer guarantees on the Irish backstop.

Given the Prime Minister is within touching distance, aren’t all Tory MPs duty-bound to lower the temperature?

Conspiring and plotting from the tearooms of Westminster might be entertaining, but the public want egotistical and vainglorious politicians to quit squabbling and unite behind a viable Brexit solution.

We are in a period of grave danger. If it doesn’t happen, the ideologues who sabotage it will forever live with the repercussions.