Andrea Leadsom: no-deal Brexit next week would not be so grim
A no-deal Brexit at the end of next week would be “not nearly as grim” as many believe, one of Theresa May’s senior ministers has said, as both the government and Labour indicated that cross-party talks to resolve the situation remained deadlocked.
Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, said preparations would mitigate many adverse effects of no deal. She also said the idea of a departure extension long enough to require the UK to hold European elections was “utterly unacceptable”.
Her comments came as May used a video statement to talk up the hopes for ongoing cross-party Brexit negotiations with Labour, saying “compromise on both sides” could still deliver a solution.
There is currently very little sign that May will travel to next week’s emergency European council summit with the coherent plan the EU says will be necessary to grant the UK a further delay to Brexit, which is currently scheduled to happen on Friday.
At the end of last week Labour said the talks called by May with Jeremy Corbyn and his team had achieved very little as the prime minister seemed unwilling to compromise on any of her Brexit red lines, notably on Labour’s key demand for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU.
The shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, who was among the Labour delegation, said on Sunday that while the mood of the talks had been “quite a positive and hopeful one”, little was achieved.
“The sad thing is at the moment we haven’t seen, overall, any real changes to the deal, but we’re hopeful that will change in coming days and we are willing to continue the talks as we know the government are,” she told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show.
“But we are currently waiting for the government to come back to us now to state whether they are prepared to move on any of their red lines.”
Speaking later on the same show, Leadsom indicated that it was up to Labour to accept the customs “arrangement” already in May’s three-times-rejected deal, and that she and other Brexiter members of May’s ministerial team could not accept a full customs union.
“There are various different types of arrangements, and those discussions are still ongoing,” Leadsom said, calling May’s existing customs plan “an excellent proposal”.
Asked whether May could agree to a full customs union, Leadsom indicated not. “My expectation – and I’m not party to the discussions – is that the prime minister will only seek to agree those things that still constitute Brexit.”
There has been speculation that MPs could force a vote to revoke article 50 entirely if the EU refuses another Brexit delay this week and a no-deal departure looms on Friday. Leadsom said she would never agree to this, and that no deal would be manageable.
“It’s not nearly as grim as many would advocate,” she said. “The civil service have done an amazing job of ensuring that we minimise the problems. I’m not an advocate for no deal, but it would not be nearly as bad as many like to think it would be.”
In her video posted on Sunday on social media, filmed at her Chequers country retreat, May conceded her own Brexit deal seemed doomed as it had been rejected by MPs three times. “Right now, as things stand, I can’t see them accepting it,” she said.
Given this, May said she was talking to Labour – despite disagreements in many other areas. “Can we find a way through this that ensures that we can get a good deal and a deal agreed through parliament?” she said.
“It’ll mean compromise on both sides but I believe that delivering Brexit is the most important thing for us.”
Under the plan for the talks, if Labour and the government cannot agree a consensus then MPs could be asked to vote on various options, with the choice seen as binding.
But Long-Bailey said Labour had heard nothing about how this could happen: “We haven’t had any discussions really as to what a next stage would be, and the government hasn’t confirmed whether they want to adopt that approach or look at more flexible approaches.”
Amid the impasse, the timetable ahead of Friday’s Brexit deadline is tightening greatly, with time seemingly too short to allow a process of government-sanctioned indicative votes by MPs before May goes to Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.
May could instead travel compelled by parliament to seek a longer extension to article 50 than the new 30 June date she has sought, and which the EU has previously refused.
A backbench bill led by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper mandating May to avoid a no-deal departure is expected to finish its progress through the Lords on Monday and then get royal assent the same day.