Loyalists threaten to desert Theresa May in push for soft deal

Tories who backed Theresa May’s defeated Brexit plan set to push for softer agreement if parliament blocks a no-deal exit this week.

r Theresa May turns to look at a colleague during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions. Picture: AFP.

Conservatives who backed Theresa May’s Brexit plan when it was heavily defeated this month are preparing to abandon her and push for a softer agreement if parliament blocks a no-deal exit tomorrow.

MPs who are currently loyal to the British prime minister will get behind alternative plans for leaving the European Union if a proposal by Yvette Cooper results in a delay to the current withdrawal date.

One MP who voted for the deal two weeks ago said that they could not afford to wait for Mrs May to try to secure more concessions on the Irish backstop before mobilising behind a softer Brexit. “How long do we have to wait? People on the moderate and centre wing of the party are not going to wait until mid-March,” they said. “We’re just not.”

Some privately believe that Mrs May should agree that Britain will stay in a customs union permanently after Brexit, while others are amenable to Nick Boles’s plan for a Norway-style arrangement.

Downing Street is desperate to stop Ms Cooper’s amendment passing. It would clear the way for a backbench bill mandating the prime minister to delay Brexit by nine months if the two sides cannot reach an agreement by the end of February.

Allies of Mrs May believe that removing the near-term threat of a no-deal Brexit will extinguish any remaining hope of concessions from the EU on the backstop — the insurance plan to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Instead, some ministers hope that an amendment from Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, will pass the Commons. It calls on Mrs May to negotiate an alternative solution to the Irish border problem, and is designed to show the EU that there will be a Commons majority in support of a Brexit deal if they abandon the current backstop proposals.

Yesterday Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, threw cold water on plans to tear up the backstop and start again, insisting that it was “part of a balanced package that isn’t going to change”.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, has told Mrs May that the EU will only renegotiate the backstop if she relaxes her red lines.

Labour and Conservative MPs who are backing Ms Cooper’s plan are quietly confident that it will clear the Commons tomorrow, although they expect the vote to be close. While some Labour MPs are worried about being perceived as blocking a timely Brexit, those pushing for the amendment believe most in that category can be persuaded to abstain rather than vote against it.

The Labour front bench has not yet announced its support for Ms Cooper’s amendment, although they are expected to do so.

Yesterday Ms Cooper, a former Labour cabinet minister, said that any extension of Article 50 could be shorter than nine months, explaining that her plan was deliberately amendable and that “it will be up to parliament to decide how long is needed”.

The shadow cabinet is thought to prefer a three-month extension, bringing Brexit day to the start of July.

One Conservative MP who is considering rebelling to back the plan said that if the delay became only three months then it would “become quite difficult to vote against”.

Last week Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, demanded Tory MPs be given a free vote on Ms Cooper’s plans.

In a last-ditch attempt to stave off defeat tomorrow, David Lidington, Mrs May’s deputy, effectively told MPs they would have another chance to delay Brexit next month. Writing in The Observer, Mr Lidington said that after Mrs May returns to Brussels MPs would “have another meaningful vote as soon as possible, I expect in February.” He continued: “Parliament will have an opportunity to express its view then,” adding pointedly: “As last time, the motion will be amendable.”

Damian Hinds, the education secretary, said yesterday that “no deal” would not become official policy. Asked whether he would sooner resign than support a no-deal Brexit, he told Sky: “I don’t envisage no-deal becoming government policy”. He insisted that it was nevertheless “important that it remains as a possibility”.

Sylvia Hermon, the sole non-DUP MP who represents Northern Ireland, warned Mrs May against changes to the backstop. Lady Hermon, an independent unionist, told the BBC the backstop was there to “protect the peace”.

The Times