Brexit news latest: Theresa May twice refuses to say 'we will be better off out of EU'

Under pressure on Brexit: Theresa May
PA / ITV
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Theresa May today refused twice to say her Brexit deal would ensure the country will be better off in future.

Asked on ITV’s This Morning to assure the nation that it would be more prosperous under her leaving agreement, the Prime Minister replied: “We can be better off.”

When presenter Phillip Schofield asked her to say “we will be” better off, Mrs May replied: “That’s up to us.”

The Prime Minister’s uncertain words came with just over a week to go before MPs vote in the Commons on whether to endorse her agreement on the terms for Britain to leave the bloc, plus an outline declaration on possible future trade terms.

Sajid Javid
EPA

She also appeared to have given up attempting to unveil a tough clampdown on low-skilled immigration ahead of the Brexit vote. Home Secretary Sajid Javid today admitted it was “very unlikely” that the long-delayed White Paper setting out a future immigration system would be revealed before it.

As revealed by the Standard last week, Mrs May is being defied by at least three Cabinet members including Mr Javid, who want low-skilled workers from overseas to be allowed in to prevent gaps in the workforce for sectors like social care and hospitality.

“It’s unlikely, actually very unlikely, to be published before the vote,” Mr Javid told Radio 4’s Today programme. “It will be published soon.” Previously the Home Secretary has said he thought it would come in time for MPs to weigh it up before voting on Brexit.

Defending the delay, he said: “This is the biggest change in our immigration system in over four decades — the most significant change we’re going to see in immigration as we take control of our immigration system, so it’s important that we work on the details, that we listen to people, to businesses and others and we get the details right.” Downing Street today defied warnings it will be held in contempt of Parliament by refusing to publish full legal advice about Mrs May’s Brexit deal.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was giving the Commons a pared-down statement setting out only what the Government was prepared to reveal it was told. But pressure increased after a new apparent leak in today’s Daily Telegraph, which said Mrs May’s chief Brexit adviser Olly Robbins warned her the so-called backstop risked a “bad outcome” in which regulatory checks would be required across the Irish Sea and security co-operation would be in danger. Boris Johnson threw his weight behind calls for the full legal advice to be published, claiming in his column in the paper: “This legal question is more important even than the Iraq war.”

Former minister Stephen Crabb told the BBC the Government would be better off “just to get out and publish the full text”. Commons Speaker John Bercow has warned ministers they could be held in contempt if they refuse to publish in full. More senior Tories have said they might back a Norway-style deal if Mrs May loses the vote. Treasury select committee chair Nicky Morgan said there was too much risk of Parliament backing a second referendum. “Indeed, the only credible alternative plan is a Norway Plus option,” she wrote at Conservative Home.

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