MAY: I WON’T LEAD THE UK INTO LIMBO

PM says she will never leave us tied to EU’s trade rules

THERESA May last night vowed she will never sign a Brexit deal that would consign Britain to ‘permanent limbo’ in the EU’s customs union.

The Prime Minister, who faces a potential Cabinet revolt over the issue today, refused eight times to say whether a ‘temporary’ customs plan would contain a firm end date.

But she told the Commons she accepted the need for some form of exit mechanism or ‘break clause’, saying: ‘People are rightly concerned that what is only meant to be temporary could become a permanent limbo, with no new relationship between the UK and EU ever agreed.

‘I am clear we are not going to be trapped permanently in a single customs territory unable to do meaningful trade deals.’

Negotiations with Brussels hit the rocks on Sunday after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab rejected EU proposals for resolving the Irish border issue at a ‘frank’ meeting with his EU counterpart Michel Barnier.

Mrs May insisted hopes for a deal were still alive, saying the two sides were not ‘far apart’. Tomorrow, she will address fellow EU leaders at a crunch summit in Brussels in a bid to break the deadlock.

But EU president Donald Tusk said a nodeal Brexit was now ‘more likely than ever before’. And EU leaders suggested the timetable for any deal was slipping.

One Cabinet minister last night said Mrs May was engaged in a ‘game of chicken’ with the EU, adding ‘The chances of a no-deal have gone up considerably.’ It came as:

Eurosceptic MPs piled pressure on ministers to use today’s Cabinet meeting to force Mrs May to change tack and pursue a Canadastyle trade deal;

The Prime Minister ruled out a second referendum, saying: ‘The people voted in 2016 and they voted to leave’;

International trade secretary Liam Fox warned Brussels that a no-deal would cause ‘disruption’ for the EU economy as well as Britain’s;

Mrs May spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron for the first time since he urged EU leaders to reject her Chequers deal at last month’s Salzburg summit;

Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman for Mrs May’s DUP partners, said a no-deal exit was ‘probably inevitable’ given the EU’s ‘intransigence’ over the Irish border issue.

The breakdown in talks centres on the so-called ‘backstop’ plans designed to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Mrs May revealed for the first time that the EU has agreed to consider her plan to keep the whole UK in a ‘temporary customs arrangement’ if a backstop is needed. But she told MPs that Brussels had also demanded a ‘backstop to the backstop’, which would ultimately require Northern Ireland to remain in the customs union – an idea Mrs May said was unacceptable. She insisted that a deal was still ‘achievable’, but government sources played down hopes of a breakthrough this week.

She voiced her ‘frustration’ that the Irish issue was holding up talks, but added: ‘We are entering the final stages of these negotiations. This is the time for cool, calm heads to prevail.’

Eurosceptic MPs accused No10 of manufacturing a ‘confected row’ to distract attention from a potential sellout. Former Brexit minister Steve Baker said the breakdown in talks was ‘almost certainly theatre’. Fellow Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin added: ‘Of course this is a confected row which will be resolved to overshadow the unacceptable nature of the rest of the deal.’

Eurosceptic MPs also urged ministers to force Mrs May to change tack. Former minister Mark Francois, a leading member of the European Research Group, said: ‘We believe the Cabinet should do what they have not done at all, which is debate the merits of a super-Canada trade deal. I think they will find it is superior to Chequers.’

But Mrs May told MPs that a Canada-style deal was on offer only if the UK was willing to see Northern Ireland ‘carved out’ into a permanent customs union with the EU – something she would never contemplate.

One senior EU diplomat said: ‘Mrs May didn’t sound too pessimistic and I think we’re close, but we still need some time.’

Comment – Page 20

‘Chances of a no-deal have gone up’