Defiant Theresa May vows to foil EU ‘trap’ to keep UK in customs union forever amid Tory-DUP war over backstop plan
DEFIANT Theresa May insisted she will not cave to Brussels plan to "trap” Britain in EU customs rules by the backdoor forever - teeing up a major dust up with leaders next week.
The PM’s stand comes as her pact with her Northern Irish allies hung by a thread after extraordinary revelations DUP chiefs want her gone by Christmas and deputy leader Nigel Dodds mocked Tory "panic".
And in fresh headache for Mrs May it was also emerged last night the EU are secretly discussing extending the Brexit process because of the chaos.
Her tough words came in a bid to quell the revolt over the so called Brexit backstop - which Brexiteers insist must have “get out clause” written into it. The “backstop” would see Britain mirror EU rules indefinitely if no new trade deal is in place to keep the Northern Irish border open.
The EU now suggests a longer post-Brexit transition until December 2021, citing lack of progress. It would see us paying Brussels billions extra.
But Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab insisted that it must be “time-limited” and cannot leave Britain “in definite limbo”.
However he stopped short of demanding a named date as Brussels has rejected this and Downing Street said his stance was consistent with the PM.
No10 said the PM "would never agree to a deal which would trap the UK in a backstop permanently.” But Ireland said having an open ended backstop was “a deal-breaker” for them.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: “The backstop needs to be there unless and until something better comes along. Nobody wants to use the backstop - this is like taking out fire insurance on your house.”
But yesterday Philip Hammond explicitly stated the "temporary period" would be needed to be invoked.
Mrs May has always insisted the backstop is unlikely to ever be needed, yet Mr Hammond said: “It is true that there needs to be a period - probably following the transition period that we've negotiated and before we enter into our long-term partnership".
Mrs May now heads to Brussels on Wednesday to meet fellow EU leaders for a crunch summit that faces deadlock.
Meanwhile open civil war broke out between Tory MPs and their crucial DUP allies over the issue, after the Northern Irish threatened to dethrone the PM.
And as Sun columnist James Forsyth reveals today, some senior figures in the DUP want the PM to be ousted within weeks.
Tory MP Nick Boles hit out: “Conservative leaders are chosen by Conservative MPs and Conservative Party members. Not by MPs of any other party. And we respond no better to threats than proud Ulster men or women do."
And it emerged Eurocrats are mulling plans to prolong the transition period in a bid to stop the DUP torpedoing a Brexit deal.
Sources said the withdrawal pact could be changed so the 21 month window can be extended to reassure Unionists the backstop will never be needed.
The Sun Says: Theresa's trap
THEY say a Brexit deal is close. We just don’t see how it can be done.
The EU is making a demand of Theresa May she cannot fulfil without national humiliation, mass Cabinet resignations and near-certain Commons defeat.
Brussels must know it is utterly unreasonable to demand we stay locked in their customs union indefinitely. Or that they should dictate when we can finally leave. Which they never would.
A 17.4million majority voted to leave. MPs voted that meant leaving the customs union. Our democracy, sovereignty and trading future are all at stake. Mrs May must defend all three. God knows what happens next week if she doesn’t.
The Remain ultras should be loving this chaos. Except they have suffered their own disaster. The EU says if we held a second referendum and voted Remain, they’d strip us of our historic rebate on payments to Brussels.
So along with violent unrest, a collapse of trust in democracy and a huge surge in extremism, Remaining would come with a whole new price tag on top of EU membership fees: Four thousand million quid a year.
Good luck selling that.
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But the plot will enrage Brexiteers, who fear efforts to trap Britain permanently in the Single Market and Customs Union as a "vassal state".
During a transition the UK will be banned from striking trade deals and will have to keep making budget payments, while following EU rules without any say.
Sources said Michel Barnier is considering a new plan that would see the transition stay in place until the end of 2021 - meaning a two year, nine month phase.
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