Brexit news latest: Theresa May warned she faces revolt if she bows to Brussels and accepts 'poisoned cup' deal

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Theresa May was warned today she faces a revolt by ministers if she bows to Brussels and accepts a “poisoned cup” Brexit deal.

With Tory MPs openly plotting to oust her, the embattled Prime Minister was told to avoid further concessions on her Chequers Brexit plan.

Earlier European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker dealt a fresh hammer blow to her blueprint and made clear the Government would have to yield more ground to get a trade agreement. He used a major speech today to reject a key part of the proposals which says Britain should stay close to the EU in trading goods but go its own way on services.

With Mrs May appearing to be increasingly cornered, one Brexiteer source told the Evening Standard: “Juncker is offering her a poisoned cup of ‘Chequers-minus’, which she needs to turn away. It would depend what the ‘minus’ is, but a Chequers-minus proposal would probably be very hard for Brexiteers in Government to accept, so you could then see resignations in the autumn.”

A senior Tory MP branded Chequers a “dead dog”, adding: “The Government is in the bunker. There is only one thing that will go through the Commons — a free trade deal.” However, a No 10 official insisted Mrs May, pictured, was still confident of getting a deal based on Chequers. The source pointed to multiple signals from figures in Brussels that an agreement “specific to the UK” would be agreed. He added: “The direction of travel is with us.”

Under pressure on Brexit: Theresa May
REUTERS

In what could be interpreted in Whitehall as a possible sign of this, Mr Juncker said the Commission would not “stand in the way” of a Brexit deal. Mrs May this afternoon threatened to cancel the £39 billion “divorce bill” unless a deal on future trade was struck. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, she promised Tory MPs: “The specific offer was made in the spirit of our desire to reach a deal with the EU. As the EU themselves have said, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Without a deal the position changes.” She also welcomed Mr Juncker’s promise that Britain would never be “an ordinary third party for us”.

But the political heat was increasing on the Prime Minister after revelations that Tory MPs let off steam in a meeting of about 50 backbenchers at Westminster last night, when they openly discussed ways of replacing her.

Brexiteers today published plans which they claimed would solve the dispute over the post-Brexit border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, the proposals were immediately condemned as “dangerous” and not “serious”.

The European Research Group of Tory backbenchers, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, proposed equivalence of UK and EU regulations for the safety of agricultural products.

For other goods, the ERG said existing simplified customs procedures could continue to be used to avoid the need for checks at the border.

Marcus Fysh, Owen Paterson, Theresa Villiers and David Davis arrives to Royal United Services Institute on September 12, 2018 in London, England. Leaders are meeting in debates as the European Parliament maintains Northern Ireland after Brexit should be able to keep millions in EU funding to support maintaining the peace in the area
Getty Images

Larger companies would use “trusted trader” schemes to clear their goods for export and import, and other declarations would be incorporated into the existing system used for VAT returns.

Former Northern Ireland Secretaries Owen Paterson and Theresa Villiers claimed the proposals would rule out the need for new physical infrastructure on the border.

But Labour MP Alison McGovern said: “Their [ERG] proposals on Northern Ireland are not comical but profoundly dangerous to the stability and security of Northern Ireland.”

Amid turmoil in Westminster, Environment Secretary and Leave campaigner Michael Gove dismissed rumours of an imminent move to topple Mrs May as “loose talk”.

Asked if he would agree to serve in a Boris Johnson government, Mr Gove rejected the premise of the question, saying: “At the moment the Prime Minister is Theresa May.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg arrives at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Whitehall, London, to discuss Brexit proposals
PA

Other Tory MPs echoed his sentiments. A senior Brexiteer said none of the big-beast Eurosceptics, such as Mr Johnson or Mr Rees-Mogg, had taken part in last night’s meeting.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said Brussels was clearly rejecting Chequers, which prompted his resignation in the summer, and advised Mrs May to accept a good free trade deal that would win the backing of Tory MPs.

“It was precisely for this response that I instructed the [Brexit Department] to prepare the alternative free trade-plus deal to be ready to go if Chequers does not fly,” he told the Standard. The Cabinet will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the latest tranche of technical papers spelling out official government assessments of the risks of no deal and the preparations required.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reacts before a debate on The State of the European Union at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France
REUTERS

In his state of the union address, Mr Juncker told the European Parliament: “If you leave the union, you are of course no longer part of our single market, and certainly not only in parts of it,” making clear that the Commission was standing firm with Mr Barnier that the Chequers plan for separate deals on goods and services was not acceptable.

But Mr Juncker added: “The Commission ... stands ready to work day and night to reach a deal.”

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