Number 10 under internal pressure to make big concessions to EU to get Brexit deal
Ministers have urged Theresa May to appoint a 'no deal' Secretary of State to prove we are prepared to go it alone
DOWNING Street is under internal pressure to make big concessions to the EU to get a Brexit deal, it has emerged.
However, pro-Brexit ministers fear giving too much away to Brussels.
One warned that too many concessions could see “the bottom fall out of the bucket” and the Government risking collapse.
Ministers urged Theresa May to appoint a “no deal” Secretary of State to show the EU we are prepared to go it alone.
Yet Brussels officials have briefed that they have little faith in Mrs May’s ability to get MPs to approve a final deal. This would heighten the need to plan for a no-agreement scenario.
Sun columnist James Forsyth today reveals the PM’s Europe adviser Olly Robbins is behind the push to yield to the EU.
Pro-Leave MPs fear Mr Robbins, moved from the Brexit department to No10 last month, hopes to allow the EU to declare “sufficient progress” has been made to start trade talks.
Tory MP Charlie Elphicke warned Mrs May to prepare for a no-deal Brexit in a paper called Ready on
Day One: Meeting the Brexit Borders Challenge.
He said it was vital to prepare for the possibility of walking away without a deal.
Talks in Brussels are due to re-open next week.
It is thought British officials will refuse to tell the EU how much we are prepared to pay to settle the Brexit bill.
Migrant job plan
By Matt Dathan, Political Correspondent
AMBER Rudd has signalled she wants a lengthy transition to a post-Brexit immigration system.
The Home Secretary pledged to work with big and small business to avoid damaging labour shortages.
She suggested their interests should come ahead of a Tory pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands.
She told The Telegraph no transition plan would impose an unnecessary burden on the economy.
EU migrants account for one in ten employees in some sectors.