New Tory backlash as Labour return for talks
BREXIT talks with Labour will resume today despite a growing Tory backlash over the prospect of a compromise deal with Jeremy Corbyn.
After four days of inaction, senior figures including Theresa May’s deputy David Lidington and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer are expected to resume faceto-face talks in the hope of identifying a Brexit compromise.
Mr Corbyn last night struck a gloomy note, accusing Mrs May of refusing to abandon key elements of her deal.
The Labour leader said: ‘We are prepared to talk and put forward our view, but talks have to mean a movement and so far there has been no change in those red lines.’
Last night it was claimed Mrs May was considering whether to take the dramatic step of offering MPs a separate vote on whether to hold a second referendum, in a bid to unblock the deal with Labour.
Sir Keir told Labour MPs at a private meeting that ministers had not yet given in to the party’s central demand that the UK must join a permanent customs union.
He said Mrs May was still of a ‘mindset’ that her deal effectively delivered a customs union ‘if only we looked a bit harder’.
However, Tory sources insisted a crossparty deal was still possible. ‘We’re a million miles from this thing collapsing,’ said one source familiar with the talks.
The Prime Minister warned last week that a deal with Labour might be the ‘only way’ to secure an orderly Brexit next month, after MPs voted to reject her own plans for a third time. She had hoped that a deal would be in place in time for her to present to EU leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels.
The two sides are said to be close to agreement on a deal that would ensure the UK remains in step with EU laws on workers’ rights and the environment after Brexit. But there is no agreement yet on possible customs arrangements.
And Brexiteer ministers are urging Mrs May to reject Labour’s demand to place a ‘Boris lock’ on any soft Brexit compromise, which would prevent a future Tory leader tearing it up.
A Tory source said Commons leader Andrea Leadsom clashed with Mrs May over the issue yesterday during talks in No10 with ministers, including Liz Truss, Liam Fox and Michael Gove.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland said Mrs May was right to seek a deal with Mr Corbyn and predicted: ‘Something approximating a customs arrangement or customs union would be the most likely outcome.’ And former Tory minister Nick Boles said there was a ‘pretty reasonable chance of a deal’, adding: ‘On the substance they’re quite a lot closer than perhaps people might imagine.’
Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator, said the political declaration could be amended ‘extremely quickly’ if necessary to include a customs union.
But senior ministers continued to warn against signing up to such a deal. Asked if the Government was poised to agree a customs union, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox replied ‘no’.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said the talks with Labour were ‘not the only show in town’, adding: ‘I have always believed that a customs union was not the best deal for the UK.’
Boris Johnson said: ‘If the UK were to commit to remaining in the customs union, it would make a total and utter nonsense of the referendum result. To agree to be non-voting members of the EU, under the surrender proposed by Jeremy Corbyn cannot, must not and will not happen.’
‘Customs union likely outcome’