BORIS STICKS THE KNIFE IN
He joins string of Tories who backed deal the last time... but won’t now
BORIS Johnson tried to administer a fatal blow to Theresa May’s Brexit deal last night as he joined more than 20 Tory MPs in abandoning their support for it.
Within a few hours of making a revised ten-point offer to get the deal through, the Prime Minister appeared to be on course for a crushing three-figure defeat as MPs from almost all sides rejected her proposals.
Mrs May had hoped to salvage her Withdrawal Agreement by winning over Labour MPs with a dramatic pledge to give them votes on both a second referendum as well as staying in a customs union. She also hoped to reassure Brexiteer Tory opponents with a new guarantee to try to find an alternative to the Irish backstop.
But before she had even finished delivering her speech yesterday, it became clear that both sides were still vehemently opposed to key elements of the deal, with some declaring it ‘dead in the water’.
In a string of social media messages and interviews, around two dozen of the Prime Minister’s backbenchers who had previously voted for her deal the last time, said they would no longer back her. Even Tory loyalist Andrew Percy, who had led support for Mrs May’s deal on the backbenches, said he was no longer sure he could vote for it because of the promise to hold a vote on having a second referendum.
‘I’m frustrated,’ he told BBC news. ‘I voted for this deal three times, because I think it is the only way will get out. I really am concerned about the proposed possibility of a second referendum.
‘People were told in the referendum, it was the final say on the matter for a generation – it would be implemented.’
Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter: ‘With great reluctance I backed MV3 [the third meaningful vote]. now we are being asked to vote for a customs union and a second referendum.
‘The Bill is directly against our manifesto – and I will not vote for it. We can and must do better – and deliver what the people voted for.’
He was joined by fellow Tory leadership hopeful dominic Raab, a former Brexit secretary, who said: ‘I cannot support legislation that would be the vehicle for a second referendum or customs union. Either option would frustrate rather than deliver Brexit – and break our clear manifesto promises.’
However, several key Cabinet figures last night backed Mrs May’s offer. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said: ‘The Prime Minister is doing everything she can to ensure we leave the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union. I support her and urge colleagues to back the deal. Once passed, business investment and confidence will surge, building on strong national employment.’
Chancellor Philip Hammond said: ‘Britain needs a Brexit that feels like a compromise; one that everyone can live with. Theresa May’s new Brexit deal is a bold proposal and one I encourage all members of the House of Commons to get behind so we can settle this question once and for all.’
Jeremy Corbyn appeared to reject the new offer out of hand, saying Mrs May’s proposal was ‘largely a rehash’ of what she had already offered in the failed crossparty talks.
‘What the Prime Minister calls her new Brexit deal is effectively a repackaging of the same old bad deal, rejected three times by Parliament,’ the Labour leader said.
‘We will of course look seriously at the details of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill when it is published. But we won’t back a repackaged version of the same old deal.’
Labour MP diana Johnson said: ‘Well it looks like this big bold plan of the PM’s is dead in the water. Surely she will have to abandon it
now or face an even bigger vote against in June.’
Last night at least 23 Tory MPs who backed the Brexit deal when it was last brought to the Commons on March 29 said they would now oppose it.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the european Research Group of eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, said: ‘ The Prime Minister’s latest proposals are worse than before and would leave us bound deeply in to the eU. It is time to leave on WTo [World Trade organisation] terms.’
Former minister Robert Halfon said: ‘This is a betrayal of the 2016 referendum and a betrayal of everything she has been saying since she became Prime Minister.’ Former Tory leader Iain duncan Smith said Mrs May’s speech had ‘made things worse’, as he revealed he would no longer support her Brexit deal. ‘It puts Brussels firmly in control of our destiny,’ he said.
However, some MPs criticised their colleagues for rushing to judgment on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) before it has even been published.
damian Green, the former de facto deputy prime minister, said: ‘I thought I would read the WAB before coming to a view – clearly a very unfashionable position. It’s still true that this is the quickest way to deliver Brexit.’