Tag: Stephen Barclay

The cabinet minister in charge of Brexit has held detailed talks with Labour MPs who are championing plans for a second referendum – amid signs of mounting desperation inside Theresa May’s government about what to do if the prime minister’s deal suffers another crushing defeat on Tuesday. The Observer view on the case for a second Brexit vote remaining as strong as ever Read more Kyle told the Observer on Saturday that Barclay had “remained loyal to government policy”, which is to oppose any second referendum. Under the Kyle-Wilson plan, which could receive Labour’s official backing after Tuesday’s vote but before Brexit day on 29 March, an amendment would be put down in parliament allowing MPs to approve May’s deal, but on the condition that it is then put to the country in a second public vote. Read more Kyle said: “Clearly the Brexit secretary is fully engaged in the battle to deliver support for the vote on Tuesday. We didn’t enter the meeting with expectations of converting him to our cause but we hope that government now understands what our plan offers, should a new direction be demanded by parliament in the coming days.” A senior Downing Street source said May remained “100% opposed to a second referendum, with bells on” and insisted that she and all cabinet ministers were still determined to persuade enough Tory MPs and the 10 DUP members to rally behind her deal this week. “The PM, ministers and her negotiating team are intensely focused this weekend on making progress so that ultimately we can, in the country’s best interests, leave the EU with a deal.” If May loses on Tuesday, she has said she will call a vote on Wednesday on whether parliament should rule out a no-deal Brexit and then a further one, probably on Thursday, on delaying Brexit. It is understood that if she loses, the prime minister has not ruled out trying to bring back her deal to parliament a third time, nearer to Brexit day, when she would tell MPs that the only alternative to backing her would be a lengthy delay that could mean Brexit not happening at all. Labour will delay putting down an amendment in favour of a second referendum until nearer Brexit day. But the new Independent Group of MPs will table an amendment for a second referendum to take place after a series of indicative votes on alternatives to May’s deal had been held. Some two million young people who could not vote last time due to their age would now be able to do so.

Ministers will resume efforts later to secure legally-binding changes to Theresa May's Brexit deal that might get MPs' backing in a week's time. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will meet EU officials in Brussels in search of guarantees over the backstop plan to avoid border checks in Ireland. Mr Cox has dismissed reports he has given up on securing a firm end date to ensure the UK is not stuck. MPs will vote on the deal by 12 March. If MPs reject the withdrawal agreement for a second time, they will have the opportunity to vote on whether to go ahead in just over three weeks' time without any kind of negotiated deal. If they decide against, they will then have a vote on whether to extend negotiations and push the date of departure back by several months. Separately, Scottish and Welsh politicians are joining forces in an attempt to force the prime minister to change her position on Brexit. For the first time since devolution 20 years ago, they will debate the same motion, at the same time. Struggling towns to get post-Brexit funding Brexit: A really simple guide Macron urges reforms to protect EU Brexit: Your questions answered Leading Brexiteers are hoping Mr Cox will be able to change his legal advice to satisfy them that the backstop - a controversial plan which will see the UK aligned with EU customs rules until the two sides' future relationship is agreed or alternative arrangements worked out - will not endure indefinitely. Last week, Jeremy Corbyn said Labour will back another EU referendum, after his alternative Brexit plan was again defeated in the Commons.

Hard Brexiters have warned Theresa May that the only proposal they are likely to support to break the Brexit impasse is a version of the “Malthouse compromise”, which envisages removing the backstop from the draft European Union exit treaty. So start stockpiling now | Matthew d’Ancona Read more Steve Baker, the vice-chair of the European Research Group, said he and other Conservative Eurosceptics could not support the alternative they believed the prime minister favoured – an addendum to the existing EU withdrawal agreement. Baker is one of five backbench MPs who will meet Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, on Monday, in the first meeting of a new working group aimed at examining whether technological solutions could eliminate the backstop. “As far as I’m concerned, the Malthouse compromise is the only game in town if we’re going to reach an agreement in Brussels,” Baker said, indicating that only rewriting the draft withdrawal agreement to remove the backstop would satisfy Tory Brexiters. She is preparing to go to Brussels armed with specific proposals as to how to break the Brexit deadlock after the first deal May negotiated was defeated by 230 votes in January, the worst defeat suffered by a government in modern times. Asked about this, he said: “We need to leave the European Union in a smooth and orderly way. Play Video 1:06 The cabinet minister also dismissed weekend newspaper reports that Downing Street strategists were considering holding a snap general election on 6 June if May could not get a Brexit deal through parliament. “The last thing we want is a general election, the people will never forgive us for it,” Javid told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC. They have been given a very clear mandate, now it’s our job to get on with it.” There are signs that the Conservatives have started to gear up for a possible snap election, with the party’s chief executive, Sir Mick Davis, having placed the Tories on a “war footing” last week and increased fundraising activities under the cover of the local elections in May. When he responded that the party HQ was focused on the local elections, it was dismissed as a “non-denial” and other MPs joined in, calling on him to rule it out completely.

More than half of Conservative party members want Theresa May’s Brexit deal to be rejected in favour of leaving the EU with no deal, according to a survey. Standfirst ... unknown title 0 10 20 30 40 50 Leave the EU without a deal 57% Leave the EU with the proposed deal 23 Remain a member of the EU 15 Guardian Graphic | Source: ESRC. Sample size: 1,215 Conservative party members In a three-way referendum, with the options of leaving without a deal, staying in the EU or leaving with May’s deal, 57% preferred leaving without a deal. Only 23% of members said they would vote for May’s deal in a three-way referendum. Just 29% of Tory members would vote for May’s deal, compared with 64% who would vote to leave without a deal, if there was a two-option referendum. Sample size: 1,215 Conservative party members Among party members, opposition to the deal negotiated by their own leader outweighs support by a margin of 59% to 38%. More members (53%) think May’s deal does not respect the 2016 EU referendum result than the 42% who think it does. Sample size: 1,215 Conservative party members Tory divisions: the factions preparing for fall of May's Brexit deal Read more The findings are a further blow to May, who hopes to win a majority in parliament for her EU deal, which is expected to be put to the vote later in January. The research showed that a greater proportion of Tory members think the government has made a mess of negotiating Brexit than those who just support the party. But the poll of party members found that 68% of Tory members think the government is doing badly at negotiating the country’s exit from the EU – a proportion that rises to 78% of those party members who voted leave in 2016.