Brexit secretary Dominic Raab dismisses claims Theresa May is planning a snap election

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has accused EU leaders of putting "the handbrake" on negotiations at the Salzburg this weekend.
PA
Nick Charity24 September 2018
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Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has dismissed claims Theresa May and her top team are planning to call a snap election following the rejection of her Chequers plan by EU leaders.

It comes following reports that aides to the PM have creating contingency plans for an election in November to save the Brexit talks and her job.

Mr Raab told the BBC's Andrew Marr show this morning that suggestions that Downing Street aides were preparing contingency plans in the event of Chequers proposals being voted down in parliament were 'for the birds.'

Meanwhile Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also pledged to join Tory rebels to block the Chequers deal, saying the Prime Minister must hold a General Election if she can't deliver on Brexit.

"It's for the birds. It's not going to happen," Mr Raab told the show while being quizzed on the fallout of the Prime Minister's meeting with EU leaders in Salzburg on Friday.

Mr Raab said the Government would keep negotiating with the EU on the basis of the Chequers proposals.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told BBC1's Andrew Marr show that suggestions of a snap election are "for the birds".
BBC

"This is a bump in the road. We will hold our nerve, we will keep our cool and we will keep negotiating in good faith," he said.

"What we are not going to do is be dictated to. The UK is one of the biggest economies in Europe, if not in the world.

"We have come up with a serious set of proposals. We are not just going to flit from plan to plan like some sort of diplomatic butterfly. We are going to be resolute about this."

Coming away from the "melodrama of Salzburg", as he called it, the government's "pragmatic" plan remains a "set of proposals that gives effect to the referendum", said Mr Raab.

"If we get this sort of "computer says no" response from the EU we're not going to make progress. We need some flex, and some give and take," he said.

Mr Raab maintains that the EU has been the side to stifle negotiations with belligerent responses, while others criticise the government's own stubborn position by demanding a 'pick-n-mix' of agreements.

In the programme, Jeremy Corbyn was accused of similar "cherry-picking" that has broken down Theresa May's negotiating position.

Mr Marr said Labour wants the same ease of trade with Europe, with the freedom to write trade deals elsewhere.

"There's quite a big difference between us and what Liam Fox is trying to do," Mr Corbyn said, calling the international trade secretary's own plans the "exact opposite of Labour's".

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn also faced questions, as he promises to let the party decide if it should back calls for a second referendum.
BBC

"They involve the reduction of environmental and other standards, all of which involve deregulation. We want stronger regulation. Ours is strengthening consumers' and workers' and environmental rights.

"The PM should report to parliament on what has happened and what her statement really means and we should measure her proposals for the relationship it the EU against the six tests that the Labour Party has put down."

He stoked suggestions again that Mrs May has a general election looming over her if Brexit proposals do not quell the rebels in her own party by November.

He added: "This government doesn't seem very strong. We could well be looking towards a General Election and you know what, we're ready for it."

Questioning the assumption that hard right Tories could find themselves voting for a situation where Corbyn could be Prime Minister, he said: "I don't think there's many Tory MPs that want to see a Labour government, but there are many Tory MPs who are very very angry with how their government is performing and might feel it is the right time for the country to make a decision on the future.

"People voted in two ways, but nobody voted to lose their job. Nobody voted for factories to close."

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