Brexit talks between the UK and the EU remain deadlocked, Downing Street has said just a day before MPs are due to vote again on Theresa May’s deal.
The Times reports that Senior Conservative MPs have told Theresa May that her position will be untenable if parliament forces her to extend the Article 50 process this week. In a series of meetings with government whips, Brexiteer Tories have warned Downing Street that the prime minister will face renewed pressure to quit if she is made to ask for extra time from Brussels. Others have suggested that they would be prepared to compromise and back her deal if she wins limited concessions but only if she states her intention to go as soon as the deal is signed. A former cabinet minister said that Mrs May would find it “very difficult” to stay in office if parliament forced an extension on her.
In another story The Times reports that Theresa May has been urged by senior Conservative MPs to pull tomorrow’s meaningful vote on her Brexit deal if she fails to secure significant concessions from Brussels. In phone calls with Downing Street, leading Tories in the Commons warned that the prime minister could face another three-figure defeat if she went ahead with her plan. They have advised her to halt the vote and replace it with a motion setting out the kind of Brexit deal that would be acceptable to Tory MPs to keep the party together and put pressure on Brussels. “As it stands her deal is going to be defeated,” a senior party source said.
BBC reports that May spoke to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Sunday night after a weekend of negotiations failed to find a breakthrough.Talks are expected to resume on Monday morning with the aim of securing changes to the deal before Tuesday’s vote.
Meanwhile, writing in the Daily Mail, pro-Brexit Environment Secretary Michael Gove said while the prime minister’s deal was a compromise, it should not be rejected “for that reason alone”. Gove also defended the backstop, saying that if it were to be used he could not imagine EU politicians “tolerating” it for long. He appealed for unity among MPs and the country, and rejected the notion of a no-deal Brexit: “We didn’t vote to leave without a deal. That wasn’t the message of the campaign I helped lead.”
The Telegraph reports that the EU is preparing to impose punitive conditions on Britain as its price for agreeing a Brexit delay if Theresa May is forced to ask for an extension this week. Member states are “hardening” their attitudes towards a delay and will demand “legal and financial conditions” including a multi-billion pound increase to the £39bn divorce payment. With no signs of a breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations to change the existing exit deal, Parliament is expected to reject the deal for a second time on Tuesday, before voting later in the week to extend Article 50.
The Independent reports that Theresa May has been warned she could be forced out of Downing Street if her Brexit strategy is dismantled by MPs this week in a series of critical votes. As negotiations entered the eleventh hour, the prime minister was desperately attempting to salvage her withdrawal deal, with a plane reported to be on standby at RAF Northolt to fly her to Brussels at the first sign of EU officials shifting their position.
