JUDGMENT DAY
May strikes historic Brexit deal She calls in Cabinet one by one to plead for support But Tory rebels cry betrayal and warn PM’s ‘days are numbered’
THERESA May is facing ‘judgment day’ on Brexit after securing a withdrawal agreement with Brussels.
At an emergency Cabinet meeting this afternoon, she will warn ministers it is now ‘make or break’ for avoiding a chaotic exit.
Downing Street believes it has headed off plans that could have led to Northern Ireland being ‘annexed’ by the EU after Brexit and insists it has laid the groundwork for a ‘good deal’.
But No 10 is on alert for possible resignations today, with Eurosceptic ministers under intense pressure from hardliners not to approve a ‘Brexit in name only’. Brexiteers launched a preemptive strike against the agreement, crying betrayal and calling on the Cabinet to ‘show spine’ and block it.
Iain Duncan Smith warned the Prime Minister’s ‘days were numbered’ if she tried to keep the UK tied to Brussels.
Mrs May’s ability to get a deal through Parliament was put in doubt when Eurosceptic MPs were joined at a Westminster press conference by senior figures in the Democratic Unionist Party.
They voiced fury at reports that the proposed agreement could drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. However Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who was one of the leaders of the Leave campaign, is expected to back the plans.
Moderate Tories last night accused leading Brexiteers of ‘throwing their toys out of the pram’ before they have
even seen the details of the proposed withdrawal agreement. On a dramatic day:
Cabinet ministers were last night trooping in for one-to-one briefings with Mrs May and her team;
Officials confirmed a final agreement could be put to EU leaders on November 25, with MPs asked to vote on it before Christmas;
Opposition leaders wrote to Mrs May calling for a ‘truly meaningful vote’ in the Commons;
Tory chief whip Julian Smith said he was confident MPs would fall in line;
Boris Johnson called on Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers to mutiny;
The DUP joined Eurosceptics and Labour to make the Government publish the full legal advice on the impact of the agreement;
The pound surged to a seven-month high against the euro.
Yesterday’s breakthrough came after days of gruelling negotiations in Brussels, in which both sides made further concessions.
Downing Street was tight-lipped about the contents of the withdrawal agreement, which runs to 500 pages.
An accompanying document on the ‘future framework’ is said to be as short as five pages, and is set to be the subject of intense negotiations.
But sources said Brussels had backed down over the controversial ‘backstop’ plan which is designed to prevent a return to a hard border in Northern Ireland if trade talks falter.
The EU had demanded a scheme that would have kept Northern Ireland in the customs union after the rest of the UK left. Brussels has now accepted a proposal that could keep the whole UK in a temporary backstop until trade terms are finalised.
A Government source said: ‘The idea of a Northern Ireland-only customs backstop has been dropped. There is no backstop to the backstop.’
Last week, seven Cabinet ministers, including the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, warned Mrs May that the UK must have a ‘unilateral’ exit clause from the arrangement. Sajid Javid yesterday became the latest minister to warn the deal would not get through Parliament without this.
But the proposal was rejected by Brussels and is thought to have been replaced by a complex joint mechanism, which will raise Eurosceptic fears that Britain could be ‘trapped’ in a customs union against its will.
Further concern may centre on the EU’s demand for a ‘level playing field’ guarantee, which could see the UK made to follow Brussels rules during any backstop period.
Mr Raab and the so-called ‘Brexitettes’ – Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey – were all on No 10’s ‘resignation watch’ over the issue last night. Earlier this week, Miss Mordaunt suggested the Cabinet was ready to act as a check on Mrs May’s Brexit compromises.
But Mrs Leadsom last night hinted she would stay, saying: ‘I had a good discussion with the PM and will be at Cabinet for further conversations with colleagues tomorrow.’ A friend of Mr Raab said he appeared ‘upbeat’ about the agreement.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said ministers would have to reflect on the detail.
Irish news organisations claimed the agreement involved deeper customs and regulatory checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, breaching a DUP ‘red line’.
A Whitehall source last night dismissed this claim as Dublin ‘spin’. The source warned there was no realistic prospect of further concessions from Brussels, adding: ‘It’s make or break time. This is the basis for a good deal, but the negotiators are clear they have taken this as far as they can.’
The DUP said it had been kept in the dark, raising doubts about the future of the confidence and supply deal that props up Mrs May’s minority government at Westminster.
DUP leader Arlene Foster warned: ‘An agreement which places new trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain will fundamentally undermine the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom. That is not acceptable. Over time, such a deal will weaken the Union. No unionist prime minister could argue that such a deal is in the national interest. These are momentous days and the decisions being taken will have longlasting ramifications.’
Members of the European Research Group urged ministers to block the deal. Chairman Jacob A STREAM of Cabinet ministers trooped into Downing Street last night to be given a briefing on the PM’s long-awaited deal amid fears some may quit.
Brexiteers including Andrea Leadsom, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling were shown a text of the Withdrawal Agreement as a major push began to convince them to back it.
They could read the 500-page document in Downing Street but were not allowed to take a copy home before today’s crunch Cabinet meeting.
Fears one or more could quit straight away proved unfounded although one source said they expected it to get ‘very very very bumpy’ in the coming days.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been on resignation watch for days, was the first to speak to the PM at around 2pm. He has reportedly told friends that ‘no deal’ would be the best option for Britain if the deal would leave us trapped in the Irish backstop.
The Mail understands that Home Secretary Sajid Javid told yesterday’s Cabinet meeting he thought the deal would not get through the Commons. Leader of the Commons Mrs Leadsom, who warned the PM at the weekend about not leaving us ‘trapped’ in a customs union, made clear she wouldn’t quit.
A source close to Mrs Leadsom said: ‘She had a good discussion with the PM and will be at cabinet for further conversations with colleagues.’ Transport Secretary Mr Grayling, who has warned Mrs May about leaving the UK tied to Rees-Mogg said: ‘It is a failure of the Government’s negotiating position, it is a failure to deliver on Brexit and it is potentially dividing up the United Kingdom.’
Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson said: ‘For the first time in a thousand years, this place, this Parliament, will not have a say over the laws that govern this the single market, arrived at No10 in the late afternoon and stayed for around an hour.
Others seen were Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock who left just after pm. Trade Secretary Dr Fox, who has demanded the UK must be able to leave the customs backstop without the EU’s approval, was in for less than an hour and refused to answer questions as he left. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss was also seen leaving.
Other ministers thought the most likely to jump if they dislike the deal include International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt. On Monday she warned that the Cabinet and the Commons could block any deal that leaves us shackled to Brussels.
Several ministers, including Jeremy Hunt, have warned the PM that her deal will not get through Parliament if it leaves Britain unable to walk away from a ‘temporary’ customs union.
There was no sign of Esther McVey, who is seen by many as the most likely to walk, although she had attended the full Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Entering No10, chief whip Julian Smith said ministers would want to study the agreement carefully. ‘I am confident that we will get this through Parliament and that we can deliver on what the Prime Minister committed to on delivering Brexit,’ he told reporters.
‘The negotiation team have been working through the night for the last few weeks and we’re hopefully on the cusp of beginning to get to the point where we are delivering on Brexit in a really practical way.’ country. It is a quite incredible state of affairs.’
But moderate MPs suggested the Eurosceptic response had little to do with the details of the deal. Simon Hart, founder of the Brexit Delivery Group of MPs, which is backing efforts to strike a deal, said: ‘This is now judgment day. Every minister and MP needs
‘They’ve taken it as far as they can’ ‘Working through the night’
to weigh up what’s on offer, compare it with alternative outcomes and make their decision and live with the consequences.
‘Using this moment to play politics or grandstand will rightly be greeted with dismay by all our voters, irrespective of whether they voted to leave or remain.
‘We are looking for calm assessment of the position not the political hysteria which has been all too frequent when discussing Europe.’
EU diplomats yesterday said they believe the moment of truth on whether a Brexit deal has been reached will emerge today when Michel Barnier’s team updates member states in Brussels.
The meeting had originally been intended only to cover no-deal preparedness but has now had ‘state of play’ on the talks added to the agenda. It has also been shifted forward two hours.
One diplomat said: ‘Tomorrow we will see if there is white smoke in Whitehall and in Brussels in terms of whether there has been a solution found and a deal agreed.’ Another said: ‘The ball is on the side of the UK and its internal processes. It’s now for Theresa May’s Cabinet to decide if it is satisfied.’
Further Brussels sources last night said the deal would include a review before the end of the transition to determine whether to trigger the Irish backstop.
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