MY DEAL OR CHAOS
Theresa May refuses THREE times to rule out quitting if her Brexit deal fails
THERESA MAY yesterday refused THREE TIMES to rule out resigning if the Commons votes down her Brexit deal – issuing a new threat of chaos to rebel Conservative MPs.
Challenged in a phone-in, she ducked the question and would only say she was “focused” on delivering the result of the 2016 Referendum.
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She also declined to say whether Britain’s economy would be “better off” under the terms of her exit, or staying in the European Union.
The comments came as the PM launched a titanic battle to win over the estimated 90 Tory MPs vowing to reject her deal in the Commons by going over their heads – and speaking direct to the public.
She will take her campaign to all four corners of the UK next week – meeting voters in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Taking calls on BBC Radio Five Live yesterday, the PM warned that Britain would be plunged right back to “square one” if Parliament votes down her draft deal with the EU in three weeks’ time. “I don’t think they will come to us and say ‘We’ll give you a better deal’,” she said.
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And in a thinly veiled warning to her own side, she refused to say whether she would stay on in Number 10 if the vote goes against her after a likely five days of debate next month.
Asked if she would stand down if she couldn’t get the deal through Parliament, the PM replied: “I’m focused on actually ensuring we do get this through Parliament. This is absolutely the right deal for the UK.”
Challenged again if she would resign, because she had staked her Premiership on it, Mrs May said: “I’m not thinking about me, but getting a deal that delivers for the country. That’s what drives me and is at the forefront of my mind.”
Asked once more to confirm there no plans to resign, she added: “My focus is on getting this deal.”
Theresa May warns negotiations will 'go back to square one' if her Brexit plan is not accepted during BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in
Just last week Theresa May vowed to dig in like cricket legend Geoff Boycott as two key Ministers quit and threw her Government into chaos.
David Cameron famously insisted he wouldn’t resign if he lost the Referendum vote – before announcing he was off the morning after the bombshell Brexit result.
Staying in the EU is better than Theresa May's deal 'lock us in' to EU forever, Raab says
EX-Brexit boss Dominic Raab has said that staying in the EU would be BETTER than Theresa May's hated Brexit deal.
The former Cabinet secretary, who quit last week over the proposed arrangement for our EU exit, said he didn't want to Remain in the bloc but that Mrs May's proposals are even worse than that.
He told the BBC this morning: "I'm not going to advocate staying in the EU.
"But if you just presented me terms, this deal or EU membership... yes, I think this would be even worse than that."
Mr Raab said it would keep us "locked in" to the EU's rules for years to come - and might never become free of thyem.
"They want to peg us in and control our laws and avoid having a competititive advantage - and they've acomplished that with this deal."
Instead he said Mrs May should go back to the EU and rengeotiate, giving a "best final offer" before considering a managed form of No Deal.
Yesterday’s comments by the PM came after a fierce reaction by Brexiteers to the publication of a draft trade agreement with the EU on Thursday. Theresa May yesterday insisted the deal would see Britain taking back control of its borders, laws and money – as well as fisheries.
Yet Brussels was yesterday preparing to ambush Theresa May ahead of her meeting with EU leaders on Sunday by publishing new texts on fishing and Gibraltar to go alongside the Brexit agreement they hope to formally agree.
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It came in another brutal day for the PM in Westminster.
- DUP leader Arlene Foster said the Ulster Unionists would revisit the terms of their confidence and supply deal to prop up the Tory Government if the Brexit deal passes.
- Tory MP Gordon Henderson added his names to the list of backbenchers vowing to vote down Theresa May’s Brexit agreement.
- Ex-Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Theresa May’s Brexit deal would be “even worse” than remaining in the European Union.
- Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tried to appease the PM’s critics by describing Theresa May’s deal as a “staging post” to a new relationship with the EU.
- Furious Tories turned on Brexiteer Cabinet Ministers such as Michael Gove and Penny Mordaunt for “going missing” and failing to back the deal in public.
- Downing Street was forced to rubbish claims it hopes a stock market crash following the loss of a first Commons Brexit vote will force MPs to rethink.
- Cabinet sources pushed the idea of a “negotiated no deal” where Britain pays for an extra year of EU membership before a clean Brexit.
- Arch Eurosceptic Nadine Dorries MP said the PM should “quit”.
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The DUP’s Westminster chief Nigel Dodds will pile more pressure on Mrs May by calling on rebel Tory MPs not to buckle and instead to stand with the Ulster Unionists on Brexit.
The DUP has signalled it will vote down the PM’s deal in fury over the so-called ‘backstop’ which could tie Britain to the single market and customs union in a bid to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
Mr Dodds said the confidence and supply agreement was a “two way street”.
He added: “It is incumbent on all Conservatives in Parliament who recognise the importance of continuing stability and who wish to see the Government deliver its agenda to ensure it is honoured in full.”
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The Prime Minister yesterday hinted that MPs upset over her deal needed to listen to the feelings of voters “outside” of Westminster.
And she reiterated that the public wanted Parliament to “get on” with settling Brexit so the Government could focus on “day to day” issues such as hospitals and schooling.
Asked on Five Live by Sarah from Billingham, County Durham, if her Brexit deal could get through Parliament, the PM said: “I think the job of an MP is to say to themselves, ‘Does it deliver on what it voted for?’ I believe it does.
UK’s out of pluck and out of pocket
By Priti Patel, Tory MP for Witham, former International Development Secretary
TODAY we have finally seen the true cost of being out-thought and out-manoeuvred by the EU at every stage in the negotiations.
By agreeing to give the EU £39billion of taxpayers’ money for no trade deal in return, we have ensured everything we wanted from the negotiation has been put in an unenforceable, meaningless political declaration.
And it will cost every UK household £1,433.
However, the EU’s happy because everything it wanted has ended up in the Withdrawal Agreement — a legally enforceable international treaty which we won’t be able to back out of.
Worse still, the declaration is essentially the discredited Chequers proposal all over again.
Instead of taking back control, we will be abandoning control over vast swathes of our social and economic policy.
Instead of being bold enough to prepare to walk away from negotiations, we’ve succumbed to the EU’s bullying tactics.
This is a defeatist surrender and I implore ministers to think again.
“And they should ask ‘What do we need to focus on for our constituencies and people up and down the country?’.
“People’s jobs and the future of their children should be at the front of people’s minds.” Mrs May insisted Britain had a “bright future” after Brexit, but challenged by another called- Michael – she stopped short of declaring the country would be “better off” compared with staying in the EU.
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She said: “It’s different sort of environment and diff approach we will be taking to things. What will make us better off is not being in or not, but what we can do for our economy and our prosperity.”
The PM admitted she often now goes to bed beyond midnight because of the demands of the job and the Brexit negotiations.
But on a lighter note, she joked: “I definitely don’t dream of Brexit.”
Theresa May fires back at Boris Johnson after his Brexit agreement criticism
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