Theresa May axes hi-tech plans to solve Brexit deadlock amid hopes of imminent breakthrough with Brussels
THERESA MAY last night dumped hi-tech plans to solve the Brexit deadlock amid hopes of an imminent breakthrough with Brussels.
The PM told Cabinet it was not plausible to pursue the so-called Malthouse Compromise pushing for alternative arrangements to the hated Irish backstop by March 29.
Ministers were told the Government would instead seek to tweak the backstop to get her Brexit deal through the Commons.
Sources claimed a new agreement on the backstop such as a time-limit could even be struck with the EU this weekend following talks between Theresa May and Commission boss Jean Claude Juncker on Wednesday night.
One said No.10 hoped the PM’s revised Brexit deal could then be put before the Commons in a meaningful vote next week.
The backstop is an insurance scheme hated by Brexiteers because it could see Britain tied to EU customs rules to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
The Malthouse Compromise was devised by Tory moderates such as Kit Malthouse and arch Brexiteer Steve Baker as a way of helping the PM get a deal through the Commons.
It suggests avoiding a hard border by using smart cameras and customs checks away from the frontier.
PM'S BREAKTHROUGH HOPE
Mr Baker yesterday labelled the idea of a tweak to the backstop “Cox’s Codpiece” in reference to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.
But following a meeting with Mrs May last night he said he was reassured that No.10 was still keen to explore hi-tech solutions as part of future trade talks with the EU.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and Mr Cox are due to visit Brussels on Thursday with a new legal wording on the backstop.
Insiders believe the hope is that this could be signed off by EU leaders at a special conference in Egypt this weekend so that the PM can put it before the Commons next week.
Unless a revised deal goes before Parliament on February 26, MPs are poised to vote on delaying Brexit altogether.
One source said: “Brexit could be delayed next week so if we can put a deal before the Commons, we’ll put one before them.”
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday said he believed a breakthrough was in sight.
Speaking in Berlin, he will warn that all sides on the negotiations have a heavy responsibility to ensure an agreement is reached.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar separately warned that Ireland would face a “dilemma” over the border in a No Deal as it would have to enforce the EU’s single market and customs union.
Mr Juncker last night said he feared today’s talks with Theresa May would not be prove to be productive.
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He said: “I don’t know what our British friends actually want to have. In the British Parliament, there is always only a majority against something, there is never a majority for something.”
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay insisted talks would carry on over ‘Malthouse’ in the coming months.
One senior source said both the EU and U.K. were willing to commit money to finding hi-tech solutions but that it just wouldn’t be ready by April.
They said: “It’s a big step forward.”
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