Under fire May lives to fight another day
PM tells MPs 95 per cent of withdrawal deal is done
THERESA May fought for her political life in the Commons yesterday against assassins in her own party.
The PM insisted 95 per cent of her Brexit withdrawal deal was complete as she battled to cling on to her job amid threats from Tory MPs who want to topple her and force a hard Brexit.
But she conceded that the biggest problem, the Northern Irish border, might need an extension of the transition period beyond the December 2020 deadline to find a deal.
In a bid to placate Brexiteers, May said a comprehensive trade deal allowing the whole UK to trade with the EU without the need for a border could be agreed in time. If it had to be extended, May stressed she wanted it to be over “well before the end of this Parliament”, due in June 2022.
May has faced a backlash from some Tory MPs over the extension to the transition period, currently due to run for 21 months. It could mean the UK will be forced to pay billions into EU for months or years after it has left.
Scottish Conservatives are alarmed at the prospect of extending the implementation period, which would renege on a promise to the UK fishing industry to leave the Common Fisheries Policy in December 2020, when fishing quotas are set for the following year. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the SNP’s Ian Blackford accused May of incompetence and being hostage to the whims of her backbenchers. Corbyn told the Commons: “The Conservative Party have spent the last two years arguing with themselves instead of negotiating a sensible deal in the public interest. “Even at this crucial point they’re still bickering among themselves. This Government is terminally incompetent, hamstrung by its own divisions.”
He added: “Instead of taking back control, they’re giving away our say and paying for the privilege. What an utter shambles. Having utterly failed to act in the public interest, will the PM do so now and make way for a government that can and will?”
May accused Corbyn of “putting politics ahead of the national interest” with Brexit.
Blackford said: “The Prime Minister has been humiliated and hamstrung by the extreme Brexiteers on the Government benches who are holding the country to ransom – leading us all to the brink of a catastrophic no-deal outcome.” Despite growing Tory discontent with May, her Commons appearance was bolstered by support across the House after she was targeted by vile anonymous briefings from her own backbenchers.
Over the weekend, she was subject to verbal attacks from Brexiteer Tories who referred to her being “knifed” and “hanged”.
The Sunday Times quoted one unnamed Tory MP as saying: “The moment is coming when the knife gets heated, stuck in her front and twisted. She’ll be dead soon.”
Another said May should “bring her own noose” to a meeting of backbench Tories.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper said: “This is vile and dehumanising language towards a woman MP, towards a prime minister who, no matter how much you might disagree with her, is someone who is doing a job in public life.
“Nobody should be subject to that kind of violent language.”