Theresa May (pictured tonight in Downing Street) admitted Brexit would
Furious Brexiteers accuse May of surrender: PM is blasted for handing control to ‘Marxist’ Corbyn in desperate pivot towards soft Brexit that will mean ANOTHER delay until at least May 22 as she snubs demands for No Deal
Brexiteers exploded in rage tonight as they accused Theresa May of surrendering Brexit and handing control to ‘Marxist’ Jeremy Corbyn.
Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg led a tirade against the Prime Minister after she ended a marathon Cabinet offering new talks with the Labour leader to avoid Britain leaving with No Deal. They believe she will now oversee a soft Brexit that smashes the promises made by Vote Leave.
Mrs May said the current divorce deal could not be changed but promised to renegotiate a new political deal with the EU on what the future relationship might look like in an attempt to ‘end the impasse’. No ministers have resigned so far and No 10 said the offer was agreed on ‘collectively’.
To get a new cross-party agreement Mrs May will have to make major concessions on her red lines. She admitted there was a need to ‘break the logjam’ and warned it was an ‘historic moment’ for the nation.
Labour leader Mr Corbyn tonight said he was ‘happy’ to meet with the Prime Minister and said she ‘has made a move’ that provides a basis for new talks with ‘no limits’. He warned Britain must not crash out without a deal and said he ‘held in reserve’ the prospect of a No Confidence motion if Mrs May loses again.
But Mr Johnson said the decision to hand control to Mr Corbyn meant the Cabinet had concluded ‘any deal is better than no deal’. Mr Rees-Mogg accused the PM of handing power to a ‘known Marxist’.
The Tories have promised to leave the EU Single Market and Customs Union so they can end free movement of people and strike new trade deals after Brexit. Labour’s policy is to keep a customs union and last night Mr Corbyn ordered his MPs to back a plan that accepted continued EU free movement.
Last week, Mrs May promised her party she would resign as Tory leader and PM once the first phase of Brexit is over – a move which may undermine efforts to seal a deal with Labour if Mr Corbyn believes her successor will scrap any political deal he makes now.
The PM said she wanted a new plan in place in time for an emergency EU summit next Wednesday, April 10, so she can explain to EU leaders why Britain needs more time. The PM said she wanted to get the deal through in time to avoid EU elections next month – but it is deeply unclear whether the EU will agree to this.
The EU has made clear any further extension will mean Britain taking part in EU elections on May 23. EU leaders must agree unanimously on a new delay and have warned they want a clear plan.
The Prime Minister’s ‘mother of all Cabinet meetings’ massively overran today with MPs having their phones taken to avoid leaks and only allowed a sandwich and a stroll around the No 10 garden in a brief break from crisis talks.
Ministers were locked inside Downing Street after the meeting ended and while Mrs May prepared her speech, sipping Chilean red wine to pass the time.
Nobody has so far resigned from the Cabinet. Leaks suggest that in the meeting, 14 members of the Cabinet spoke out against a further delay to Brexit – including Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Chief Secretary Liz Truss.
Mrs May’s proposed delay was backed by 10 ministers, including Chancellor Philip Hammond, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.
A general election was ‘discussed’ by ministers this morning but there was little enthusiasm and ministers ruled it out.
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Theresa May (pictured tonight in Downing Street) admitted Brexit would have to be delayed further tonight as she offered talks with Jeremy Corbyn on a new joint plan for the final UK-EU relationship
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The PM said if agreement with Mr Corbyn (pictured leaving home today) proved impossible, the decision will be passed to Parliament – and promised to follow MPs’ orders. Talks with Mr Corbyn have been tried before and failed
In a dramatic Downing Street speech, Mrs May said: ‘Today I’m taking action to break the logjam. I’m offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and try to agree a plan that we would both stick to to ensure we leave the EU and we do so with a deal.
‘This is a decisive moment’: May’s call for ‘national unity’ to save Brexit in full
I have just come from chairing seven hours of Cabinet meetings focused on finding a route out of the current impasse – one that will deliver the Brexit the British people voted for, and allow us to move on and begin bringing our divided country back together.
I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with No Deal next week.
I have always been clear that we could make a success of No Deal in the long-term. But leaving with a deal is the best solution.
So we will need a further extension of Article 50 – one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal.
And we need to be clear what such an extension is for – to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way.
This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer.
It is putting Members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure – and it is doing damage to our politics.
Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer.
So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree a plan – that we would both stick to – to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.
Any plan would have to agree the current Withdrawal Agreement – it has already been negotiated with the 27 other members, and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened.
What we need to focus on is our Future Relationship with the EU.
The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next week’s European Council.
However, if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the Future Relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue.
Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House.
But to make this process work, the Opposition would need to agree to this too.
The Government would then bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. We would want to agree a timetable for this Bill to ensure it is passed before 22nd May so that the United Kingdom need not take part in European Parliamentary Elections.
This is a difficult time for everyone. Passions are running high on all sides of the argument.
But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for.
This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands. And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest.
‘Any plan would have to agree the current Withdrawal Agreement – it has already been negotiated with the 27 other members and the EU has repeatedly said it cannot and will not be re-opened.’
Mrs May said if she and Mr Corbyn could not agree a way forward she would present ‘a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the house in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue’.
‘Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House. But to make this process work the opposition would need to agree to this too,’ she added.
Standing in Downing Street tonight, Mrs May said: ‘This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer.
‘It is putting Members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure – and it is doing damage to our politics.
‘Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer.’
She added: ‘The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next week’s European Council.’
Mrs May made clear she wanted to save the prospect of leaving on May 22 – despite the EU making clear the deal had to be agreed last week to lock in this date.
Failure to persuade the EU to agree that schedule would mean taking part in EU elections next month.
Mrs May said: ‘This is a difficult time for everyone. Passions are running high on all sides of the argument.
‘But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for. This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands. And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest.’
In response, Mr Corbyn said: ‘We will meet the Prime Minister.
‘We recognise that she has made a move, I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn’t support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future and that’s the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions.’
But ERG leader Jacob Rees-Mogg condemned Mrs May for planning to collaborate with ‘a known Marxist’ and said the move would lose Tory votes.
He said: ‘You do find that leaders who decide to go with the opposition rather than their own party find their own party doesn’t plainly follow.
‘I’m not sure this is the way to conciliate people to persuade them if they haven’t moved already to move at this stage.
‘I think getting the support of a known Marxist is not likely to instil confidence in Conservatives.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘It is very disappointing that the cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.
‘It now seems all too likely that British trade policy and key law making powers will be handed over to Brussels – with no say for the UK.
‘As it is, we now face the ridiculous possibility of being forced to contest the European elections more than three years after leaving the EU and having to agree to exit terms that in no way resemble what the people were promised when they voted to leave.
‘The PM and cabinet have concluded that any deal is better than no deal, and this is truly a very bad deal indeed – one that leaves us being run by the EU. I can under no circumstances vote for a deal involving a customs union as I believe that does not deliver on the referendum.’