‘Hair-shirt’ ministers plot to head off no deal
Group including five Cabinet members warn of resignations if they fail to get free vote on issue
ALMOST 20 ministers have been secretly meeting in Westminster to discuss plans to stop a no-deal Brexit, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The group, which includes five members of the Cabinet, has held several discussions on the best approach to leave the European Union.
One member jokingly referred to it as the “Hair-shirt Club” because there is no “pizza or alcohol” at the meetings.
When it last met 10 days ago, the group debated an amendment tabled by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and backed by former Tory minister Nick Boles to remove no deal as an option.
The Cabinet ministers in attendance were Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, Greg Clark, the Work and Pensions Secretary, David Gauke the Justice Secretary, and Claire Perry, the energy minister.
A further 14 ministers are part of the group, which meets every fortnight in a committee room of the House of Commons.
One member said they had so far managed to keep a low profile because members were united in their opposition to a no-deal Brexit.
“We don’t boast about what we’re doing and we don’t leak,” the minister said. “We meet early in the evening and drink water. It’s a meeting for a serious discussion and an exchange of views.”
Another attendee said the meetings were a place for “serious discussion” and that there was a “spectrum” of views about the best approach to take to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
A third member said: “The group is united around opposition to no deal and doing everything in our power to stop it.
“We are not tied to Cooper and Boles but we are intent on finding a way to stop it and stop it as soon as possible”.
It comes after Ms Rudd warned the Prime Minister that as many as 40 members of the Government could quit if they are forced to vote against Ms Cooper’s amendment on Tuesday.
Sources suggested that the number prepared to resign over the issue is likely to be significantly lower because Labour is poised to back the amendment.
With about 20 Tory backbenchers poised to rebel, the Government would be defeated without the need for any ministers to quit.
However, several of those who attend the meeting are still considering resigning if the Government denies them a free vote on the amendment because they could not oppose something that would remove the threat of no deal.
Richard Harrington, a business minister and one of those who has attended the meeting, said: “My clear objective is to stop the nonsense of a hard Brexit.
“It may be the way to do that is supporting Cooper/boles. It may be that someone can suggest a better way of doing it or ideally a way I can do it in co-operation with the Government.
“I hope the latter is the case but if it’s the former so be it.
“If I have to resign I will. Others still have to say what they think.”
Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister who also attends the meetings, says he too is prepared to quit if the Government pursues a no-deal Brexit.
He said: “Crashing out with no deal would be a historic act of self-harm, with profound economic, security and reputational consequences for the UK at the very time threats are increasing and diversifying.
“Yet it’s a position some Brexiteers are ironically increasingly drawn to. Though voting to remain, I supported the deal to leave, as this honoured my democratic duty to represent the referendum result in Bournemouth East. “Yet a no-deal outcome invariably leads to a Northern Ireland hard border – the very concern Brexiteers claim is their justification for not supporting the Prime Minister’s deal.”
Cabinet ministers have rounded on Ms Rudd and other Remainer colleagues over their demand for a free vote on Ms Cooper’s amendment.
The ministers including Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt and Chris Grayling are understood to have argued that a free vote would be “abdicating collective responsibility”.
Mr Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said that, as a Eurosceptic, he had accepted many compromises over Brexit and suggested that Remain ministers should do the same.
While ministers did not name Ms Rudd and “no one went for her outright”, one source said it was “painfully clear” that she was the target of their “ire”.
The ministers also raised the constitutional implications of Ms Cooper’s amendment at their last meeting.
Concerns were raised about the fact that it will overturn parliamentary precedent and hand backbench MPS unheard-of power.
The amendment to the Prime Minister’s plan aims to secure powers for MPS to extend the Article 50 period, without which the UK will exit the EU on March 29.