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May calls emergency cabinet meeting to sign off final Brexit deal with Brussels Brexiters line up against deal agreed with Brussels
(35 minutes later)
Ministers have been summoned to an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where they will be asked to sign off Theresa May’s final Brexit deal with Brussels. Ministers have been summoned to an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon to sign off Theresa May’s final Brexit deal with Brussels, prompting hard Brexit Tories to call for senior ministers to block it.
The critical meeting will review the final text of the withdrawal agreement, which was reached on Tuesday by British and European Union negotiators as the first step in the long process of ratifying the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.The critical meeting will review the final text of the withdrawal agreement, which was reached on Tuesday by British and European Union negotiators as the first step in the long process of ratifying the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Ministers were being summoned to No 10 individually for briefings on the latest developments from the early evening. One source said they would be allowed to see the key papers on Tuesday evening but not take them home. Ministers were being summoned to No 10 individually for briefings on the latest developments on Tuesday evening and to read the key documents, although they were not allowed to take any papers home.
“Cabinet will meet at 2pm tomorrow to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels, and to decide on next steps,” a No 10 spokesman confirmed. “Cabinet ministers have been invited to read documentation ahead of that meeting.”“Cabinet will meet at 2pm tomorrow to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels, and to decide on next steps,” a No 10 spokesman confirmed. “Cabinet ministers have been invited to read documentation ahead of that meeting.”
Hard Brexiters swiftly reacted negatively to the prospective deal – and indicated they intended to vote against it if it came to parliament. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group said: “I hope cabinet will block it, or if not, parliament will block it.” The UK is understood to have ceded that a joint EU-UK committee will judge when an all-UK customs union can be terminated, according to leaks from Brussels. Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, had been pushing for a unilateral way out of the customs arrangement.
Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary, said he believed the deal was “vassal state stuff”. He said the UK will be bound by laws over which it has no say, which was “utterly unacceptable”. Hard Brexiters swiftly reacted negatively to the prospective deal – and indicated they intended to vote against it if it came to parliament. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group, said: “I hope cabinet will block it, or if not, parliament will block it.”
The principal document, the withdrawal agreement, runs to more than 400 pages of dense legal text. Ministers will be given an opportunity to read the documents before the meeting, and will be scrutinising them carefully to see when and how the Irish border backstop can be terminated and what is contained within its provisions. Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary, said he believed the deal was “vassal state stuff”. He said the UK would be bound by laws over which it had no say, which was “utterly unacceptable”.
Iain Duncan Smith, when asked if the government’s days were numbered, said: “If this is the case, the answer is almost certainly, yes, because they’re in real trouble if they bring back something unacceptable to their party.”
Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s Westminster leader, said that if the deal matched what he had heard in leaks over the past few days, then it was not acceptable. His unionist party props up May’s government.
“We have to see the details of it, but it appears to be a UK-wide customs agreement but [with] deeper implications for Northern Ireland both on customs and single market, and as Jacob has said, if that means that we’re taking the rules and laws set in Brussels, not in Westminster or Belfast, then that’s unacceptable,” Dodds said.
The principal document, the withdrawal agreement, runs to more than 400 pages of dense legal text. Ministers will be scrutinising it carefully to see when and how the Irish border backstop can be terminated and what is contained within its provisions.
A backstop is deemed necessary to avoid a hard border in Ireland if the UK and the EU cannot agree a free trade agreement by the end of the Brexit transition period in 2020. May has proposed a UK-wide backstop that would result in the whole country remaining in a customs union with the EU.
EU ambassadors had been due to meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the European commission’s no-deal preparations. As news emerged of the tentative deal the agenda was ripped up to make way for a discussion of the final compromise positions with the member states yet to see the final text.
Some details of the deal were, however, filtering through from the secretive “tunnel” in which the two sides have been negotiating. “London has to say yes now,” said an EU official at the heart of the negotiations.
The British negotiating team won a victory in persuading Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, that the detail of any fisheries arrangement will be in the political declaration.
On level playing field commitments, designed to ensure the UK cannot undercut European businesses while enjoying tariff-free trade, the legal text on the “backstop” solution for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland is said, however, to have been “heavily boosted” by clear detail on where Britain will keep up with EU environmental, social and labour regulations along with a commitment to stay “dynamically” in line with the bloc’s state aid commitments.
Brexiters in the cabinet – such as Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt – have repeatedly raised concerns that the UK must not sign up to a backstop arrangement that traps the country in a permanent customs union.Brexiters in the cabinet – such as Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt – have repeatedly raised concerns that the UK must not sign up to a backstop arrangement that traps the country in a permanent customs union.
Others who have voiced unhappiness in recent meetings include Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, both of whom are considered to be potential alternative leaders. Rumours were also swirling in Westminster last week that Dominic Raab was close to resigning amid concerns about the backstop.Others who have voiced unhappiness in recent meetings include Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, both of whom are considered to be potential alternative leaders. Rumours were also swirling in Westminster last week that Dominic Raab was close to resigning amid concerns about the backstop.
“Brexiters in the cabinet will have to look deep in their souls now,” one Conservative Brexit source added.“Brexiters in the cabinet will have to look deep in their souls now,” one Conservative Brexit source added.
They will also want to see if the agreement contains any role for the European court of justice in resolving disputes, such as over the termination of the backstop.
An EU source confirmed that a “stable text” had been sent to London, but officials were not calling it a deal, saying full agreement at political level was still needed. “It is now about seeing if this sticks,” said the source.
If the cabinet agrees the plan on Wednesday, the EU expects to hold a special Brexit summit on 25 November, with EU affairs ministers likely to prepare the ground at an extraordinary meeting on 19 November.If the cabinet agrees the plan on Wednesday, the EU expects to hold a special Brexit summit on 25 November, with EU affairs ministers likely to prepare the ground at an extraordinary meeting on 19 November.
Parliament will then ratify the deal in a keenly anticipated “meaningful final vote” that will take place in the middle of December. One Westminster source suggested that could happen on 10 December, following at least two days of debate.Parliament will then ratify the deal in a keenly anticipated “meaningful final vote” that will take place in the middle of December. One Westminster source suggested that could happen on 10 December, following at least two days of debate.
Those hoping to hold a second referendum are expected to use that moment to try to win over a majority in the Commons to the idea.Those hoping to hold a second referendum are expected to use that moment to try to win over a majority in the Commons to the idea.
“I hope that finally we have something. I think it’s pretty close now,” a senior EU source said, drawing a distinction between a failed attempt to find a deal last month that ended when the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, met the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels. “Last time Dominic Raab said no, but now [Theresa May] puts her weight behind it, so I think she is convinced that she has agreed a good deal.” Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said Labour would almost certainly vote against the deal. “We will look at the details of what has been agreed when they are available. But from what we know of the shambolic handling of these negotiations, this is unlikely to be a good deal for the country.”
Five business groups have been called in to a Wednesday briefing on Brexit, sources have confirmed. They are Confederation of British industry, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors, The Federation of Small Businesses and EEF, the manufacturers organisation. Earlier on Tuesday, the European Commission had published a raft of no deal notices including the warning that visa-free short trips for British nationals would only be permitted if the UK reciprocated.
The summit would be preceded by an intense round of meetings and exchanges on the text between Brussels and other EU capitals at all levels of European diplomacy. EU member states, led by France and Germany, have told the EU’s chief negotiator they will not be bounced into a deal that risks undermining their long-term economic interests.
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