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Brexit: only alternative to Chequers is no deal, says Theresa May Brexit: May's 'Chequers or no deal' warning angers Tory right
(about 1 hour later)
The only alternative to the Chequers plan is crashing out of Europe with no deal, Theresa May has told a BBC interviewer. Theresa May has insisted that the only alternative to her Chequers plan is crashing out of the European Union with no deal, prompting her critics on the right of the Tory party to say she risks a “car crash” if she sticks to her policy.
In the interview marking six months until Brexit, the prime minister said she was confident of getting an agreement based on the compromise she reached with her cabinet at Chequers in July. The prime minister told the BBC on Monday she was confident of getting a deal based on Chequers, whereby the UK would agree to sign up to a “common rulebook” for food and goods, but which is deeply unpopular on the hard Brexit right.
In clips of the interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, she said that if the agreement had not been accepted, the UK might have broken up. May said she would then put the anticipated exit agreement to parliament for MPs to endorse, probably in November, and insisted there would be no alternative on offer other than no deal.
Asked by Nick Robinson whether she was saying “my deal or no deal”, May said: “I believe we will get a good deal. We will bring that back from the EU negotiations and put that to parliament. I think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal.” Asked by Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether she was saying “my deal or no deal”, May said: “I believe we will get a good deal. We will bring that back from the EU negotiations and put that to parliament. I think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal.”
The Chequers plan prompted the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson. May tried again to remake the case for it by claiming the other options put forward by the EU were unacceptable. Tory MPs in the hard Brexit European Research Group (ERG) were quick to voice their objections. Steve Baker, who resigned as a junior Brexit minister over Chequers, said he agreed with a column by Boris Johnson in the Daily Telegraph and added that the UK should instead aim for a Canada-style free trade agreement.
Baker began by quoting Johnson, saying “if the Brexit negotiations continue on this path they will end, I am afraid, in a spectacular political car crash”, and went on: “He’s right. The future for the UK alongside the EU must be based on an advanced FTA plus a range of agreements.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG chairman, backed Baker. He told LBC radio May was wrong to argue that the only options available to parliament this autumn would be accepting Chequers or leaving on WTO terms, or without a deal.
“The prime minister’s argument on the radio this morning [was] that it was either her plan or WTO terms, in which case WTO terms would be much better,” he said.
“The only reason we have got the Chequers plan is because she didn’t put forward a better one. It’s not this simple either/or case.”
This week May heads to Salzburg on Wednesday and Thursday to attend an informal EU council of leaders, where she will canvass her Chequers plan over dinner on the first night of the summit. It will be a critical test of the credibility of Chequers with EU leaders, a week and a half ahead of the Tory party’s annual conference.
May, in her interview, tried again to remake the case for Chequers by claiming the other options put forward by the EU were unacceptable.
“The European Union had basically put two offers on the table. Either the UK stays in the single market and the customs union – effectively in the EU – that would have betrayed the vote of the British people,” she said.“The European Union had basically put two offers on the table. Either the UK stays in the single market and the customs union – effectively in the EU – that would have betrayed the vote of the British people,” she said.
“Or, on the other side, a basic free trade agreement but carving Northern Ireland out and effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the European Union and Great Britain out. That would have broken up the United Kingdom, or could have broken up the United Kingdom. Both of those were unacceptable to the UK.“Or, on the other side, a basic free trade agreement but carving Northern Ireland out and effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the European Union and Great Britain out. That would have broken up the United Kingdom, or could have broken up the United Kingdom. Both of those were unacceptable to the UK.
“We said ‘no’ … we’re going to put our own proposal forward and that’s what Chequers is about … It unblocked the negotiations.”“We said ‘no’ … we’re going to put our own proposal forward and that’s what Chequers is about … It unblocked the negotiations.”
May also dismissed a plan for the Irish border, including the one put forward last week by the Brexit-backing European Research Group. May also dismissed a plan for the Irish border, including the one put forward last week by the ERG.
“What many of these other plans are based on is moving the border. You don’t solve the issue of no hard border by having a hard border 20km inside Northern Ireland, or 20km inside Ireland. It is still a hard border,” the prime minister said.“What many of these other plans are based on is moving the border. You don’t solve the issue of no hard border by having a hard border 20km inside Northern Ireland, or 20km inside Ireland. It is still a hard border,” the prime minister said.
“What we’ve done is listen to the people of Northern Ireland … They don’t want a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The only proposal that has been put forward that delivers on them not having that hard border, and ensures that we don’t carve up the United Kingdom, is the Chequers plan.”“What we’ve done is listen to the people of Northern Ireland … They don’t want a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The only proposal that has been put forward that delivers on them not having that hard border, and ensures that we don’t carve up the United Kingdom, is the Chequers plan.”
The prime minister again dodged the question of whether she believes in Brexit. “I believe that our best days are ahead of us,” she said. She again dodged the question of whether she believes in Brexit, instead saying: “I believe that our best days are ahead of us.”
Asked what would happen if parliament rejected the deal she expects to secure with Brussels, May said: “Do you really think the European Union is going to give a better deal at that point?”Asked what would happen if parliament rejected the deal she expects to secure with Brussels, May said: “Do you really think the European Union is going to give a better deal at that point?”
In the full interview, to be broadcast on Panorama on Monday, May said she gets “irritated” by the debate about her leadership and criticised Johnson.In the full interview, to be broadcast on Panorama on Monday, May said she gets “irritated” by the debate about her leadership and criticised Johnson.
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