Senior Government Leave-voters claim confronting Europe's leaders at Wednesday's summit may be the Prime Minister's only escape from her Brexit dilemma
BREXITEER Cabinet ministers will today demand Theresa May issue a final ultimatum to the EU to improve the Irish backstop or see Britain leave with No Deal in 10 days time.
Some senior Government leavers believe staring down Europe’s leaders at a summit next Wednesday is the PM’s only escape route from her dire dilemma.
Mrs May has summoned her deeply divided Cabinet to No10 on Tuesday morning for a mammoth five hour session to try to find a way out of her Brexit dilemma.
If she cannot pass her deal at the fourth and final attempt in the Commons this week, the PM will be left with having to choose between softer Brexit expected to be enforced on her by Parliament, or calling a general election.
But The Sun has also learned there was a growing consensus in the Cabinet last night to reluctantly accept a customs union if the PM’s deal is defeated by it during a run-off final round of indicative voting- expected on Thursday now.
Brexit can at least then be delivered by the end of next month and can be improved over time, the majority of the PM’s top table are now said to think.
Another Cabinet minister - a close ally of the PM’s - told The Sun: “We just need to get Brexit over the line now and worry about reshaping it later.
“We can get rid of the customs union when we get a majority. Most people around the table now buy that, because its where the public are.”
Only International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt are on resignation watch over the customs union fallback, after the Cabinet's other Brexiteers were said to have begrudgingly accepted.
Ahead of the showdown Cabinet meeting, Mrs May was lobbied by delegations of worried ministers from both sides of the Tory party’s gaping Brexit divide yesterday.
One Brexiteer Cabinet minister told The Sun: “We have to go back to Brussels and ask the EU to improve the backstop next week.“All we can do now is take this to the wire. Every other course will be a disaster.
“The EU desperately want a deal. We just haven’t pushed them hard enough on this yet.
“And if they say no, then it will be the EU who are throwing us out.”
EU leaders will hold an emergency Brexit summit on April 10 to hear any British plea for a long delay, just two days before the new exit date next Friday.
The option to confront them was discussed by the ‘Pizza Club’ of Brexiteer ministers during conference call over the weekend, The Sun has also learned.
But it would involve defying Parliament if rebel MPs manage to turn their soft Brexit bid for a customs union or Norway-style EEA membership into law.
In separate trips to Downing Street yesterday, Leave-backing ministers lead by DexEU’s Chris Heaton-Harris urged Mrs May not to apply for any long extension to Article 50 and leave by the end of next month no matter what.
When you've got a hung parliament an Election is an unavoidable part of the conversation.
A separate delegation of six Remain ministers, lead by Prisons Minister Rory Stewart, also saw Mrs May to plead with her to accept the softer Brexit outcome of the indicative vote process.
One senior Cabinet Minister confirmed a new nationwide poll would be on the agenda for their discussion today.
He said: "When you've got a hung parliament an Election is an unavoidable part of the conversation".
But there is believed to be widespread opposition to an election across the Cabinet from all groups within it, with one dubbing going to the country without delivering Brexit first as “very dangerous”.
Another Cabinet minister said they expected Mrs May to end tomorrow with a bid to “play for more time”, but they added: “There isn’t any”.
Also on another frantic day in Westminster:
Cabinet’s marathon session today will come in two chunks – a political Cabinet without any civil servants from 9am-12pm,followed by full Cabinet from 1-3pm.
The plan favoured by No10 aides is to table her Brexit deal in a run off against the indicative vote process’s winning option, on Wednesday or Thursday.
They hope the direct threat of a soft Brexit such as a custom union will finally force enough hardline Brexiteers to switch their votes and pass it.
But the PM has been warned that if she enters the run off, she would then be duty-bound to accept the outcome and implement whatever option wins it.
ANOTHER farcical Commons stalemate. But at last Labour has picked a side: It chose Remainers — and threw its Leave voters under the Brexit bus.
They wanted immigration control: Corbyn says No. They wanted freedom from EU courts: Corbyn says No.
They wanted to stop paying Brussels billions: Corbyn says No. They wanted control over our economic future: Corbyn says No. They wanted MPs to respect the referendum: Corbyn says No.
In fact, he now wants a second vote.
Labour finally turned against Brexit by backing the deviously mistitled “Common Market 2.0”. It is tempting to think some MPs supported it, and the permanent customs union, as an April Fool. But it was mainly cynical calculation, or in some cases rank stupidity.
Labour just wants to wreck the Tories.
Other dim MPs considered these positions “compromises”. More cunning Remainers suspect either is a route back to EU membership. In fact they would trigger a clamour to do Brexit properly.
“Common Market 2.0” effectively means staying in the EU without any say.
Permanent customs union robs the world’s fifth largest economy of an independent trading future. Take back control? We’d have permanently surrendered the control we have.
The Tory ERG can threaten to collapse their own Government over Theresa May’s deal, sacrificing their jobs, becoming Brexit martyrs. But the alternative futures are now much worse.
And while MPs haven’t yet given ANY plan the nod, their shameful sellout of Brexit and our future is inching closer.
