May’s message to Corbyn: door is open for talks
Prime Minister dealt blow as she refuses to accept Labour leader’s demand to take no deal off the table
‘The Government wants first to ensure we deliver on the result of the referendum’
Gordon Rayner
Christopher Hope
THERESA MAY’S hopes of reaching a cross-party solution to the Brexit paralysis were dealt a serious blow before they even began last night as she was snubbed by Jeremy Corbyn.
After winning a confidence vote by 325 votes to 306, Mrs May asked the leaders of the opposition parties to meet her individually to discuss a way forward for the Brexit deal.
But Mr Corbyn turned down her invitation, saying he would only hold “substantive” talks if Mrs May agreed to take a no-deal Brexit off the table.
In a statement delivered outside No 10 last night, Mrs May reassured voters that she would honour the referendum result, adding that she believed it was her “duty to deliver on the British people’s instruction to leave the European Union and I intend to do so.”
She said that while she had held constructive meetings with other opposition leaders, she was “disappointed” that Mr Corbyn had declined to attend.
Downing Street made it clear that Britain will leave the EU on March 29 regardless of whether a deal is in place. It means Mrs May must find ways of winning over Labour backbenchers and her own rebel MPS if she is to get a deal through Parliament.
The Government won the confidence vote – called by Mr Corbyn after its historic defeat on the Brexit deal on Tuesday – by a majority of 19, thanks in part to the DUP’S support. Four MPS abstained, including three independents and a Labour MP who was ill.
In contrast to the 118-strong Tory rebellion of Tuesday, every Tory voted against the motion, which would have toppled Mrs May had she lost.
She responded to the result by vowing to “deliver on the solemn promise we made to the people of this country to deliver on the referendum result”.
Mr Corbyn responded: “Before there can be any discussions, the Government must remove clearly, once and for all, the prospect of the catastrophe of a no-deal exit from the EU.”
Tory MPS said Mr Corbyn would now have to take the blame if Britain ended up leaving without a deal.
James Heappey MP said: “Jeremy Corbyn has sat down with terrorists apparently in pursuit of peace and always without preconditions. But will he sit down with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to tackle the biggest constitutional challenge of our time without preconditions? – No.”
In contrast, Ian Blackford, the SNP’S Westminster leader, Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, and Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, all went to No 10 for talks last night.
Mrs May spends today meeting Eurosceptics in her own party while ministers including David Lidington and Michael Gove will see senior Labour MPS in the hope they will break from Mr Corbyn and back a reworked deal.
Yesterday Mrs May refused to rule out entering a customs union in order to get a deal through Parliament.
Mr Corbyn asked her to confirm that her Government had “ruled out any form of customs union with the European Union as part of their reaching out exercise”. This would be unacceptable to Tory Brexiteers, as a customs union would almost certainly prevent the UK from striking independent trade deals. Mrs May said: “The Government wants first to ensure we deliver on the result of the referendum – that is leaving the European Union – and we want to do so in a way that ensures we respect the votes of those who voted to leave in that referendum.
“That means ending free movement, getting a fairer deal for farmers and fishermen, opening up new opportunities to trade with the rest of the world and keeping good ties with our neighbours in Europe.” A further three questions – two from Mr Corbyn and one from a backbench Labour MP – failed to elicit a direct answer from Mrs May.
Downing Street later insisted that “having an independent trade policy is not compatible with being in a customs union”. The Prime Minister’s remarks came as David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, suggested Mrs May could soften her opposition to a permanent customs union after Brexit – the likely price for Labour to support a deal.
He said: “At this stage I don’t think it’s about boxing ourselves in. We need to work out where the balance of opinion is.” Mr Gauke later refused six times to say whether Mrs May would consider staying in the customs union, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “I don’t think it makes sense at this point to be creating red lines in terms of our discussions. What we need to be doing is exploring these particular ideas.”
Asked by presenter Emma Barnett whether the Government was “exploring” the prospect of staying in the customs union, he replied: “I think we need to work out, we need to discover, where the balance of opinion is in the House of Commons.”
Craig Mackinlay, a Tory MP, pointed out that staying in the customs union would be counter to the party’s 2017 general election manifesto, which said the UK “will no longer be members of the single market or customs union”.
Mr Mackinlay, a vice-chairman of the European Research Group said: “Any concept of staying in a customs union is counter to our manifesto commitments on which every Conservative MP was elected and would be a complete breach of the electorate’s requirements for the referendum.
“It would be hugely damaging to the party and with local elections around the corner, Conservative associations would be up in arms and would feel the revenge of voters at the ballot box.”
But the prospect of Britain remaining in a customs union was welcomed by Leo Varadkar, the Irish premier, who said: “We should never forget that Brexit is a British policy that originated in Westminster.”
He said the “onus is on Westminster to come up with solutions that they can support” but that they must be palatable to the EU and Ireland.
He added: “We have always said that if the UK were to evolve from its red lines on the customs union and the single market that the European position would evolve also.”
There was a glimmer of hope for Mrs May when Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said her party would act “first and foremost … in the national interest” when it came to a way out of the crisis.