May faces threat over soft Brexit
SETTLING for a soft Brexit could cost the Conservatives the next election, Theresa May was warned last night.
The Prime Minister faced down a revolt by Cabinet Eurosceptics at Chequers yesterday to reach an uneasy agreement on a 12-point ‘compromise’ which could see Britain tied to some EU rules forever.
But the summit came as a poll showed a swathe of Tory voters will abandon Mrs May if she waters down Brexit
too much – with two-thirds warning that they would rather walk away without a deal. After nine hours of bruising talks, Brexiteer ministers last night appeared to have accepted a so-called ‘third way’ deal with Europe. And, in a thinly-veiled threat to those not willing to toe the line, a newlyemboldened Mrs May warned that ‘collective resposibility’ has now been ‘fully restored’ within the Cabinet.
A report last night claimed the PM felt so confident in her victory that she had promised allies she would sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson if he tries to undermine the deal in the coming weeks.
And in a tough-talking letter to Tory MPs, she warned that: ‘During the EU referendum campaign, collective responsibility on EU policy was temporarily suspended.
‘As we developed our policy on Brexit I have allowed Cabinet colleagues to express their individual views.
‘Agreement on this proposal marks the point where that is no longer the case and collective responsibility is now fully restored.’
Mrs May was also said to be standing firm as Downing Street braced itself for a potential leadership challenge as early as next week.
One insider conceded that the 48 MPs needed to trigger a ballot could submit letters of no confidence when Parliament returns on Monday.
But Mrs May is said to be determined to fight on – as allies say they do not believe the party’s Eurosceptic wing has the numbers to defeat her.
One Cabinet ally said: ‘Yes, there may be a contest – but she will win it.’
Pro-Brexit backbenchers may also refuse to heed her threat, privately suggesting that the PM will face open mutiny if the deal is ‘as bad as it looks’.
Following the crunch meeting at her country retreat, Mrs May issued a statement saying her warring Cabinet had ‘agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU’.
In a significant shift, which looks certain to enrage some Eurosceptics, Mrs May said ministers had agreed to abide by EU rules for industrial goods and farm products in order to ease the burden on business.
The move could limit the UK’s ability to strike trade deals with countries such as the US. In a statement last night, Downing Street said the proposals represented a ‘substantial evolution’ of the Government’s position which was designed to ensure ‘frictionless trade’ with the EU.
It added it was the Government’s ‘firm view’ that striking a comprehensive trade deal was the best option. But, with time running short, ministers also agreed that contingency plans for coping with a no-deal exit should be ‘stepped up’.
However as Whitehall officials patted themselves on the back, results from a poll commissioned by pro-Brexit group Change Britain revealed that plenty of Tory voters would not be willing to follow Mrs May into a soft Brexit.
The survey revealed that a quarter would be less likely to vote Tory if the final deal left the EU with some power to limit the UK’s ability to strike new trade deals – as it appeared to do. And almost two-thirds said Mrs May needed to be ready to ‘turn down a bad deal’ and walk away.
Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns described the survey’s findings as ‘a real wake-up call for the Cabinet and all Conservative MPs’.
Miss Jenkyns, who quit the Government last month to speak out on Brexit, told BBC Look North she would ‘100 per cent’ be willing to sign a letter to trigger a leadership challenge to Theresa May.
She said: ‘I am a blunt northerner. I speak as I find... I am standing up for the 17.4million people who wanted these red lines.’
And in a nod to the Leave campaign’s promise to ‘take back control’, the 12-point blueprint said Parliament would have to approve all new EU regulations after Brexit.
Mrs May also pledged to end the ‘jurisdiction’ of the European courts – but it was unclear how this would work if the UK agrees to follow a ‘common rulebook’.
Sources said the move meant ‘no individual or business in the UK will be able to take a case to the European Court of Justice’.
Last night’s agreement also commits the government to pursuing a new ‘mobility framework’ with the EU, which would allow citizens to ‘continue to travel to each other’s territories, and apply for study and work’.
The move will raise fears that Mrs May could yet soften her stance on immigration. But the document also pledges to end free movement, and sources said final details of a new immigration system would not be agreed until the autumn.
Yesterday’s Chequers summit began with Mrs May issuing an ultimatum to ministers: accept her proposals or resign.
The PM’s top team ‘had war-gamed’ the possibility of big name resignations such as
‘Minicab firm was put on standby’
David Davis or Mr Johnson – and had already lined up replacements.
In an extraordinary move, officials even left cards for a local minicab firm in the Chequers lobby to drive home the point that anyone tempted to storm out would lose their ministerial car and have to make the milelong walk up the driveway on foot.
In the afternoon, the Prime Minister led the discussion on the 120-page White Paper on Britain’s future relations, which she hopes to publish next week.
Last night, John Longworth of the campaign group Leave Means Leave, accused Mrs May of betrayal.
Mr Longworth, a former head of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘We have now seen Theresa May’s true colours. This is a bad deal for the UK which will only slide further as the EU take more and more.’
And one senior MP said Eurosceptics could wreck Government business in the Commons – and even vote down the Budget – if Mrs May ‘betrays’ their vision of Brexit.
The source said the mood among backbenchers was so ugly that some MPs had to be talked out of voting against the Government’s spending plans on Tuesday.
‘If they go down this route, they will need Labour votes to get the Brexit deal through,’ the source said. ‘And if they do that I’m not sure they will be able to govern.’
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