Now Eurosceptics swing behind the PM’s Brexit deal
HARDLINE Eurosceptics are becoming ‘ more pragmatic’ about Theresa May’s deal, a minister said yesterday.
Justice minister Rory Stewart said the threat that Brexit could be delayed, softened or even halted was focusing minds among Eurosceptic MPs.
‘I think there’s been a huge amount of movement,’ he told Sky News. ‘I think people are becoming more pragmatic, they are recognising much more than they did in the past that there are a limited number of alternatives to this and that the alternatives are worse.’
A number of senior Eurosceptics have indicated they could back Mrs May’s deal, provided she is able to secure concessions on the controversial Irish backstop.
Nigel Evans, secretary of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, said Eurosceptics and the DUP would not accept ‘ some wishy washy sticking plaster’.
But, writing in the Daily Mail, he said: ‘I will be looking very carefully at what (Attorney General) Geoffrey Cox brings back. On my interpretation that it delivers what Theresa May said she was going to deliver, and on it having the backing of the DUP, I can see me edging towards pushing this deal over the line.’
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, warned
‘Edging towards pushing deal’
that Remainer attempts to remove the possibility of No Deal had undermined Mrs May, but said Eurosceptic MPs could yet help reverse the defeat inflicted on her deal when it returns to the Commons. He added: ‘When the right compromise is offered, we should pull together behind the Prime Minister and help her to deliver ... on March 29.’
Government sources are hoping that Mr Cox will achieve a breakthrough in Brussels by the end of this week that will allow him to change his legal advice that the backstop could ‘endure indefinitely’ ahead of an expected vote on March 12.
A source at the European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs warned ministers not to try to ‘bounce’ them into backing any revised deal at the last minute, saying: ‘We want at least 48 hours’ notice. That is not an unreasonable.’
The ERG has set up a panel of Eurosceptic lawyers, led by Sir Bill Cash, to pass judgment on any concessions secured by Mr Cox.
Yesterday, it set out three tests the changes must pass, including a ‘clearly worded, legally-binding... clause which unambiguously overrides’ the Withdrawal Agreement. Sabine Weyand, deputy to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, suggested the demands were ‘way beyond’ what was on offer.
But Tory MP Michael Tomlinson, who will sit on the new committee, said Eurosceptics had already compromised by accepting the change did not have to be written into the Withdrawal Agreement.
In a further twist, there were reports last night that Mr Cox had abandoned his backstop efforts and was now seeking an enhanced ‘ arbitration mechanism’ instead – a result likely to dismay Eurosceptics.
A No 10 spokesman played down the claims, saying: ‘The Attorney General continues to pursue legally binding changes to the backstop that are necessary to ensure it cannot be indefinite.
DO
the Tory Brexiteers finally grasp what is at stake by refusing to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal? Leaving the EU could be derailed. As MP Nigel Evans writes, if the UK secures a legally-binding EU assurance we will not be trapped in the Irish backstop, he will support her agreement. Ministers warn delay will create a directionless ‘zombie world’. Diehard Eurosceptics – dubbed a ‘death cult’ – must heed these messages. Wrecking the deal would be an act of unforgivable folly.