Trousergate rebel heads for new clash with PM over Brexit
Bust-up looms as Theresa May prepares to spell out her vision of a ‘global Britain’
NICKY MORGAN was last night heading for a fresh clash with Theresa May after urging the Prime Minister not to adopt a ‘blinkered’ approach to cutting immigration.
The Remain-supporting former Education Secretary – who was barred from Downing Street last month in a row over the Prime Minister’s leather trousers – spoke out following reports that Mrs May would use a major speech on Tuesday to signal a ‘hard’ Brexit line on controlling borders.
Mrs Morgan pointed to a new poll which found that a majority of Leave voters would object to tougher immigration controls if it came at any financial price to them personally.
Mrs May is expected to use her speech to the foreign diplomatic corps at London’s Lancaster House to set out her vision of the newly ‘global Britain’ she hopes to build in the aftermath of Brexit – and to repeat her pledge to ‘set aside old divisions’ over the referendum.
Reports yesterday claimed the Prime Minister will set out a ‘clear blueprint’ for Brexit with tough control of borders as a ‘red line’ in negotiations – which would only be likely to be granted by Brussels if we pulled out of the single market.
‘Soft’ Brexit supporters, such as Mrs Morgan, believe that leaving the single market would exact a disproportionate economic toll on UK businesses due to lost trade opportunities.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the Open Britain campaign, found that 54 per cent of Leave voters would object to the tradeoff if it meant they would be even ‘a penny’ worse off. The figure rose to 59 per cent for Leave voters in the North – and 63 per cent of Labour-supporting Leave voters.
When asked if they would be prepared to be £100 a month worse off in exchange for greater control of immigration, the poll found that just 11 per cent of all Leave voters agreed.
Mrs Morgan said the findings ‘underline the public’s desire for the Government not to let a blinkered focus on immigration control damage people’s financial prospects’.
She said: ‘The Government will be doing a disservice to the country and to both Leave and Remain voters if it dogmatically pursues a hard, destructive Brexit where immigration control is the be-all-and-end-all, our economy is undermined and people are left poorer.’
The former Cabinet Minister’s renewed intervention in the debate follows an extraordinary spat last month with Mrs May’s top aide Fiona Hill over designer leather trousers costing nearly £1,000 which were worn by Mrs May in an interview. Mrs Morgan criticised Mrs May’s decision to wear the trousers and, subsequently, was banned from Downing Street.
In her speech, Mrs May is expected to say: ‘One of the reasons Britain’s democracy has been such a success is the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens.
‘And that is what we are seeing today. The overwhelming majority of people, however they voted, say we need to get on and make Brexit happen.
‘Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it – Leaver and Remainer – and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly Global Britain.’
Control of borders will be a ‘red line’