howard mcsweeney1 wrote:Courtesy of the Sunday Times.
Theresa May is preparing to offer Jeremy Corbyn a legally binding soft Brexit deal with a “Boris lock” that would make it difficult for a future Eurosceptic prime minister to tear up after she leaves No 10.
In a last-ditch attempt to leave the EU this year, May’s team is drawing up plans to enshrine in law a guarantee that MPs would have the ultimate say on a final deal with Brussels. Senior figures in Downing Street will tell Tory MPs that they face a “stark choice” — accept a rebranded customs union with Brussels or “lose Brexit”.
Cross-party talks stalled on Friday after Labour complained that May was not prepared to rewrite the political declaration with Brussels, which maps out what Britain wants from the second phase of negotiations. But in a sign that May is prepared to soften her approach, Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said the government had “no red lines” left. Under the new plan, the prime minister would offer to rewrite the government’s withdrawal bill to enshrine a customs arrangement in law. That is designed to satisfy Labour fears that any deal reached with May would be ripped up by her successor. The “Boris lock” would mean a Eurosceptic leader taking over would have to overturn primary legislation to get a hard Brexit. In another concession, which would enrage her party, May’s aides have discussed offering Labour a seat in her delegation to Wednesday’s EU summit.
May hopes to secure a deal with Labour before the European Council meeting, when she will ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline until June 30. In a boost for the cross-party talks, a snap poll by Labour found 42% of voters backed the parties co-operating, with 27% opposed. Labour, Tory, remain and leave voters all backed the talks by significant margins. May warned Eurosceptics last night that unless they back her, Brexit could be lost altogether because the UK would be forced into a long extension that would give remainers space to revoke article 50 or force a second referendum. “The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving,” May said. “It would mean letting the Brexit the British people voted for slip through our fingers. I will not stand for that. We have a stark choice: leave the European Union with a deal or do not leave.” More than 100 grassroots Tory chairmen and party officers signed a letter urging May to resign for trying to do business with Labour. They warned that the Conservatives would be “decimated” in local or European elections “if we don’t deliver what the country knows to be Brexit.
“Mrs May working with Mr Corbyn to turn Brexit into essentially staying in the EU without a vote at the table is considered by many activists as the last straw. “This is a step too far, which will destroy our party.” The new offer to Labour comes as May’s team uncovered a plot by remainer MPs, in concert with John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, to try as early as tomorrow to force a second referendum to be held.
Tory sources claimed that Bercow has agreed to tear up Commons rules again to allow MPs to apply for an emergency debate and then vote on a substantive motion in support of a second referendum.
Emergency debates do not normally come with binding votes. But a senior government source accused MPs backing a referendum and Bercow of “cooking this up for weeks”. Led by Tom Brake, a Liberal Democrat, the MPs plan to pair a referendum with another soft Brexit option, such as a customs union to maximise support. If ministers organise new votes on different Brexit alternatives, they want to isolate the referendum option so it can be defeated.
If the EU are unhappy about the ascension of Boris, then the Brexiteers should rejoice.