Tory rebels Anna Soubry and Dominic Grieve hold Brexit talks with Michel Barnier and lobby for City to stay close to EU
Two Tory MPs and three Labour politicians met the EU's top Brexit negotiator in Brussels today
TORY rebels today denied undermining Theresa May as they held talks with the EU's top Brexit negotiator on how to keep Britain tied to the single market.
Mr Barnier hosted Dominic Grieve, Anna Soubry and three Labour MPs in his Brussels office this evening.
The MPs sent a message to the PM that Parliament will be prepared to vote down the Brexit trade deal if it doesn't match up to their demands.
Mr Barnier, who is leading Brexit negotiations opposite David Davis, has previously held meetings with several pro-EU British politicians.
He hosted Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, and the anti-Brexit trio of Ken Clarke, Andrew Adonis and Nick Clegg.
To redress the balance, last week Mr Barnier held talks with Nigel Farage and a group of Brexit-backing businessmen.
Mr Grieve and Ms Soubry, who led the successful Commons revolt on the EU Withdrawal Bill, were being joined by Labour's Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie and Stephen Doughty for the meeting.
They raised the issue of keeping access to the European single market for Britain's all-important financial services industry.
Arriving for the meeting, Ms Soubry tore in to ministers for allegedly misleading the public on what the consequences of Brexit will be.
She raged: “I’m concerned about how realistic we’re being as a country and if we’re not being given the full picture by our Government that’s really important.”
Pressed on whether the visit was undermining the PM’s negotiating hand, she hit back: “That’s not true, I think it adds to it.”
Mr Grieve added: “This is part of this monolithic and confrontational view of Brexit. If you view it as a confrontation then you’re bound to end up with a bad outcome.”
Meanwhile Mr Umunna warned Mrs May that parliament is “not just a by-stander” in the negotiations, saying: “We’re not going to behave like some simple rubber stamping mechanism.
“It’s all well and good coming up with a withdrawal agreement but if they can’t get it through parliament that represents a problem for all involved.”
Mr Leslie added: “Absolutely nothing is inevitable. There’s a whole series of choices available to Britain. It’s not a done decision.”
Nicky Morgan, another pro-EU Tory, predicted last night that Ms Soubry would confront Mr Barnier in stark terms, saying: "Anna will be telling him exactly what's what, knowing her as I do."
An EU Commission spokesman defended Mr Barnier’s decision to host the quintet.
He said: “Michel Barnier receives many, many people who are interested in the process, who have things to say about the process and his door is open for all of them.”
But some Brexit backers claim the talks are undermining the Government's negotiating position.
Official Brexit talks are set to restart soon, with both sides keen to hammer out an agreement on a two-year transition period beginning in 2019.
The meeting comes after Philip Hammond warned the EU not to try and punish Britain in a bid to stop other countries from leaving.
In a German newspaper interview, the Chancellor shot down the suggestion that Brexit might be reversed by a second referendum.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
And asked if European countries should try to discourage more countries from quitting the EU, Mr Hammond said: "I can understand that paranoia.
"But imagine you are running a successful, thriving club. If one member leaves, you don’t immediately panic that all the other members might leave, but are confident they will want to remain.
"You cannot really run a club if you are constantly threatening members who decide to leave. You should rather redouble your efforts to remain attractive for new and existing members."
Sturgeon calls on Tories to keep UK in single market as she launches new Project Fear report
NICOLA STURGEON today called on Tory MPs to team up with Labour and the Nats to keep Britain closely tied to the EU after Brexit.
The Scottish First Minister said she would make the case for single market membership "more loudly than before" as she launched a new "Project Fear" report claiming Brexit will cost Scots £2,300 a year.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said: "If Brexit is to succeed then staying in the single market is the only option which makes sense.
"Negotiations are about to begin in earnest, and now is the time to influence the debate."
She called on Jeremy Corbyn to end the confusion over Labour's Brexit stance - and said she was optimistic that pro-EU Tories will work with the SNP.
Ms Sturgeon's comments came as she presented a new report claiming hard Brexit would reduce Scotland's economy by 8.5 per cent.
The research from the Scottish government argues that quitting the EU will damage the economy no matter what trade deal emerges from talks.