Theresa May facing battles on all fronts as Brussels warns that time is running out on Brexit

Healing herb: Theresa May is welcomed to the G7 summit today with the gift of sweetgrass
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Theresa May was today warned it is “decision time” as she was besieged by Cabinet ministers, MPs and EU governments over Brexit.

The Prime Minister was warned by the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier that time is running out for Britain to stop Brexit going off the rails. His stark message came as:

Mrs May faced a growing revolt by Tory MPs battling for a “soft” Brexit by backing an amendment to the Trade Bill to stay aligned to the single market.

Downing Street defended the Treasury after Boris Johnson branded it the “heart of Remain” in a leaked recording.

The Prime Minister risked angering Brexiteers by stopping short of giving a “cast-iron” guarantee that there will be a time limit on a back-stop for EU ties to continue until new customs and border arrangements can be agreed.

Michel Barnier was today expected to stress that the “clock is ticking” on the EU withdrawal bill ahead of an EU summit at the end of the month
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European governments were growing increasingly frustrated at the Government’s turmoil over Brexit.

Mrs May was staring at a series of possible defeats next week when MPs vote on more than a dozen amendments by the Lords to the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Mr Barnier was today expected to stress that the “clock is ticking” ahead of an EU summit at the end of the month which will seek to bridge the gap over Britain’s future customs arrangements with the EU, particularly the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

He was set to welcome the Government’s “back-stop” proposal for the Irish border which was thrashed out amid high tensions between Mrs May and Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Mr Davis succeeded in getting an end date inserted into the text, December 2021, but only as an “expectation”, which left open the question whether it was a fudge with no legal enforceability.

Mr Barnier was said to have “a million” questions about how the arrangements would work in practice — particularly the impact on EU trade policy, VAT and anti-fraud controls, and whether it will require an overhaul of EU legislation.

There were also warnings of growing impatience from other EU nations at the chaos among Cabinet ministers over Brexit. The divisions were laid bare by a secret recording of Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson admitting that there could be a Brexit “meltdown”. In unguarded comments at a private dinner, he branded the Treasury the “heart of Remain” and said the UK could end up “in the customs union and to a large extent still in the single market”.

Mr Johnson also suggested Donald Trump “might get somewhere” in the exit talks if he was in charge.

No 10 defended the Treasury, with a Government source saying: “The Prime Minister thinks all her Cabinet and all her government are working hard to deliver a Brexit that delivers on the will of the people.”

Wimbledon Conservative MP Stephen Hammond, who has tabled an amendment to the Trade Bill to keep the UK close to the single market, said: “Boris often says things at dinners he usually regrets the next day.”

Thirteen Tory MPs are now backing Mr Hammond’s amendment. Mrs May pleaded with Tory rebels to get behind the Withdrawal Bill which returns to the Commons next week, with crunch votes on Lords’ amendments on the customs union, single market and Parliament’s say on the final Brexit deal.

But speaking to reporters on her G7 trip to Canada she side-stepped requests to give a “cast-iron guarantee” that her customs back-stop proposal would not stretch beyond the end of 2021.

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