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Brexit: Not too late for real change to PM's deal - Johnson Brexit: Not too late for real change to PM's deal - Johnson
(about 1 hour later)
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson says it would be "absurd" to hold a vote on the PM's Brexit deal before attempting further talks with the EU. It would be "absurd" to hold another vote on the PM's Brexit deal before attempting further talks with the EU, Boris Johnson has claimed.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the leading Brexiteer says: "There is an EU summit this week. It is not too late to get real change to the backstop." Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the leading Brexiteer said it was "not too late" to get changes to the deal, with EU leaders due to meet on Thursday.
The backstop is a contingency plan for the Irish border, but has proved a sticking point in getting a final deal. But security minister Ben Wallace said Mr Johnson and other opponents of the deal were "ignoring the facts".
The PM's plan is expected to be voted on for a third time in the coming days.The PM's plan is expected to be voted on for a third time in the coming days.
However, Chancellor Philip Hammond said it would only return to the Commons this week if it had support from many previously rebelling Tories and from the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party. But the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the situation remained highly unpredictable.
But DUP MLA Jim Wells told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the party still had a "huge difficulty" with the existing backstop arrangements. She said it was "eminently feasible" the PM would delay a vote until after the EU summit at the end of this week - where European leaders will discuss a UK request to extend the process and to delay Brexit and for how long.
He said: "We could find ourselves locked in there forever in effect - and once you get in, you can never get out. What's the current state of play?
"We have to have a mechanism to escape the backstop." Last week, MPs rejected Theresa May's deal for a second time - this time by 149 votes - and then backed plans to rule out leaving the EU without a deal.
Negotiations with the DUP, whose MPs prop up the Tory government, are expected to continue on Monday, although Downing Street said a formal meeting was not scheduled. They also voted in favour of an extension to the process - either until 30 June, if the deal is supported before 20 March; or a longer one that could include taking part in European elections if MPs reject her plan again.
'Hardcore irreconcilables' All 27 EU member states would have to agree to an extension.
The Prime Minister would need 75 MPs to switch their support, exactly the number of Conservatives who voted against her deal. The BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler said there were growing divisions about the length of any delay or what conditions should be attached.
But Jill Rutter, programme director at the Institute for Government, told the Today programme that there were about 20 "hardcore irreconcilables" in the European Research Group (ERG). Are Tory MPs changing their minds?
She said: "The Prime Minister can obviously offset those a bit if she brings the Democratic Unionists on board."
Last week, MPs rejected Theresa May's deal again - this time by 149 votes - and then backed plans to rule out leaving the EU without a deal.
They also voted in favour of an extension to the process - either until 30 June if Mrs May's deal is supported before 20 March, or a longer one that could include taking part in European elections if MPs reject her plan for a third time.
But legally the UK is still due to leave the EU on 29 March.
All 27 EU member states would have to agree to an extension - and the countries' leaders are expected to discuss it at a summit on Thursday. Not too late to change PM's deal - Johnson
Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will have a series of meetings with other Westminster leaders and some influential backbenchers in an effort to find a cross-party compromise.
Mr Johnson, writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column, said that further changes were needed to the Irish backstop in Mrs May's withdrawal deal to break the impasse in Parliament.
He said the backstop arrangement left the UK vulnerable to "an indefinite means of blackmail" by the EU.
"If we agree this deal - and unless we have a radical change in our approach to the negotiations - we face an even greater humiliation in the second phase," he said.
He added that the government should outline its strategy for talks on the future relationship with the EU to "reassure its understandably doubtful MPs by answering some basic questions about the next phase of the negotiations".
Another Tory MP, Chris Green, told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour that he would probably vote against the deal but was still weighing up the decision - although a shift in the DUP's stance would have a "big impact".
He added that the implications of rejecting the deal for a third time weighed heavily on him "because it could lead to a general election, and we don't know how that will pan out".
The possibility of Brexit being delayed or overturned in another referendum has seen some MPs reluctantly back Mrs May's deal.The possibility of Brexit being delayed or overturned in another referendum has seen some MPs reluctantly back Mrs May's deal.
This includes former Cabinet minister Esther McVey, who told Sky's Sophy Ridge programme that she would "hold my nose" and vote for it.
A group of 15 Tory MPs from Leave-backing constituencies, including former Brexit Secretary David Davis, wrote a letter urging colleagues to back the deal to ensure Brexit goes ahead.A group of 15 Tory MPs from Leave-backing constituencies, including former Brexit Secretary David Davis, wrote a letter urging colleagues to back the deal to ensure Brexit goes ahead.
But so far the number of Tories publicly switching positions falls far short of the 75 MPs Mrs May needs to switch sides.But so far the number of Tories publicly switching positions falls far short of the 75 MPs Mrs May needs to switch sides.
Mr Johnson, writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column, said that further changes were needed to the Irish backstop in Mrs May's withdrawal agreement to break the impasse in Parliament.
He said the backstop arrangement left the UK vulnerable to "an indefinite means of blackmail" by the EU.
"If we agree this deal - and unless we have a radical change in our approach to the negotiations - we face an even greater humiliation in the second phase," he said.
EU leaders have said they will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.
Former cabinet minister John Redwood said he was also not shifting position, pointing out that legally the UK was still due to leave the EU on 29 March.
"If Parliament wants us not to leave on 29 March, it has to change the law," he told Radio 4's Today programme.
But Mr Wallace, who backed Boris Johnson for the leadership in 2016, said he "strongly urged" him to back the deal and "not to ignore the facts placed before him".
"I know Boris is passionate about leaving the EU and if he is passionate, he will recognise that voting for this deal is the way to deliver Brexit," he said.
What about the DUP and Labour?
Speaking on Sunday, Chancellor Philip Hammond said the deal would only return to the Commons if it had support from the 10 MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party.
Negotiations with the DUP, whose MPs prop up the Tory government, are expected to continue on Monday, although Downing Street said a formal meeting to try and get them on board was not scheduled.
DUP MLA Jim Wells told Today the party still had a "huge difficulty" with the existing backstop arrangements - designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland but which opponents say will separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
He said: "We could find ourselves locked in there forever in effect - and once you get in, you can never get out."
Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will have a series of meetings with other Westminster leaders and some influential backbenchers in an effort to find a cross-party compromise.