Nick Timothy:

From Labour hypocrites to anxious Eurosceptics, with a deal in the offing, MPS have nowhere to hide

Cries of anger, howls of anguish, and claims of betrayal will fill the air this week. But as the details of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal become clearer, it will not necessarily be the purists and hardliners among Leave supporters protesting. It will be the Remainers and Remoaners whose hopes of stopping Brexit altogether now risk coming to nothing.

Since the referendum, few MPS have argued, honestly and openly, that they want to overturn Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Labour’s manifesto promised to “accept the referendum result”. The shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, has spent the past three years insisting that “while Labour did not support leaving the European Union … we have accepted that that choice was made and that it will now be delivered”.

In practice, however, opposition politicians – and opponents of Brexit on the Tory benches – have argued that the terms upon which we leave must be different to whatever terms are negotiated by whichever prime minister happens to be in No10.

Hiding behind vacuous soundbites such as “a jobs-first Brexit”, Labour’s policy has been a masterclass in obfuscation and opportunism. Jeremy Corbyn insisted we must remain in the EU’S customs union, yet when Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement – or more precisely, its backstop – effectively did just that, Labour refused to support it. Corbyn insisted on maintaining European standards on workplace rights and environmental protections, yet when the Government promised not only to match EU rules but exceed them, he still wasn’t interested.

Voting down any form of “Tory Brexit” helps to cover up Labour’s own divisions – between MPS representing constituencies that voted to leave on one hand and rabid Remoaners on the other – and inflicts greater damage upon the Conservatives. It might be deeply cynical, but to date it has been highly effective politics.

Labour’s backbenchers have been little better. A sizeable faction of MPS have sought to wear their Brexit credentials on their sleeves. They have criticised their party’s leadership for failing to respect the referendum result. They have attacked other MPS for trying to delay our departure from the EU. They are fierce in their condemnation of those who support a second referendum. And yet, with only a few exceptions, most have refused to vote for anything that might actually deliver Brexit.

The Liberal Democrats – and with them the other party of protest for the privileged, the Greens – have at least been more honest. The Lib Dem manifesto magnanimously declared that they “acknowledged” the referendum result, while promising to campaign for a rerun. It didn’t take long for these professional cynics to declare “bollocks to Brexit” and adopt a straightforwardly hostile approach to the Government’s attempts to take Britain out of the EU. Now Jo Swinson – who was elected Lib Dem leader declaring, “this is the time for working together, not the time for tribalism” – says with menace, “Remainers will not forget it” if Labour MPS vote for Brexit in any form.

Then there are the Tory rebels, who find themselves scattered to all corners. Anna Soubry remains the leader of Change UK, the group of independents that was once, according to the BBC, the future. Tories with even fewer scruples, but longer careers ahead of them – they think – have joined the Lib Dems. And others, many honourable men and women among them, sit uneasily as independents having lost the Conservative whip.

They lost the whip because they voted for the so-called Surrender Act, which delays Brexit in the event of no-deal and therefore undermines the Government’s negotiating position in Brussels. Almost all of them insist they do not oppose Brexit, but simply want to stop no-deal.

Now there is a deal in sight, we will see who was telling the truth and who, all this time, has been plotting to keep Britain inside the European Union. Nick Boles says he thinks Boris’ deal is flawed, but because he believes Britain must leave with a deal, he will vote for it. But Guto Bebb, who served as a minister after the referendum when the Government’s policy was to leave the EU, says regardless of the deal he will vote for a second referendum.

This, all along, has been the real motive of many MPS who shouted and screamed and stamped their feet for extra time to debate Brexit, to allow meaningful votes and indicative votes, to win control of the Commons timetable, and to legislate for delay. Ultimately, they want to stop Brexit. And now, because Boris appears close to a deal – which the Remoaners had believed was impossible – they are terrified they will miss their chance.

True, we don’t yet know the full details of the deal. It appears to mean that the UK will leave the customs union as a whole, with Northern Ireland having a special customs partnership with the EU. Products with standards lower than the EU could not be imported into Northern Ireland, because the province would follow single market rules for industrial and agricultural goods. And goods from Europe could flow across the Irish border thanks to a rebate policy allowing Northern Irish businesses to be reimbursed where products bought and consumed in the province were subject to UK tariffs lower than those charged by the EU.

Of course, the deal might yet collapse. The DUP might reject Northern Ireland’s slightly different status to the rest of the UK. But it is undeniably true that, with Boris’s deal, all four nations of the UK will leave the customs union together.

Tory Leavers might reject the compromise. But unless the details worsen this week, they look likely to get what they want. Boris’s deal paves the way towards a future free trade agreement and a clean break from the laws and institutions of the EU.

This is why the real anger will reside where the political disappointment is greatest. If Boris gets his deal, the Remoaners face defeat. Their hysterical reaction will prove that, all along, their game was to stick two fingers up to democracy, and overturn the referendum.