THERESA May could be forced to quit today if she fails to convince ministers to back her Brexit deal.
The PM faces a crunch Cabinet showdown this afternoon where she will set out the details of the agreement she’s struck with Brussels.
A number of pro-Brexit ministers are feared to be on the brink of walking out over the deal.
They fear it would leave Britain tied to the EU customs union for years to come, because of the controversial “Irish backstop” arrangement.
If the Cabinet does block Mrs May’s deal today, she could find her position is untenable – leading to a Tory leadership crisis.
Top Brexiteers warned last night the PM’s time is running out if she insists on pressing ahead with the current withdrawal agreement.
Jacob Rees-Mogg declares there are ‘white flags over Whitehall’ after Brexit draft text is agreed in talks
And the DUP, which Mrs May relies on for her majority, said they wouldn’t vote for the deal as it stands now.
Last night Cabinet ministers were called into Downing Street one by one to examine the details of the agreement.
They will meet at No10 at 2pm, where Mrs May will ask them to approve the deal.
Brexiteers Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey are seen as the most likely ministers to resign rather than back the PM.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, last night said he could launch a bid to topple Mrs May.
Last night Cabinet ministers were called into Downing Street one by one to examine the details of the agreement.
They will meet at No10 at 2pm, where Mrs May will ask them to approve the deal.
Brexiteers Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey are seen as the most likely ministers to resign rather than back the PM.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, last night said he could launch a bid to topple Mrs May.
He told the BBC: “There comes a point at which the policy and the individual become so intimately connected that it will be very hard to carry on supporting this policy.”
And asked if he would write a letter calling for a vote of confidence in the leader, Mr Rees-Mogg replied: “Not in the next 24 hours.”
Ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested Mrs May’s “days are numbered” if she signs a deal which undermines the Union.
Senior DUP figures told the PM they won’t back the agreement if it divides Northern Ireland from Great Britain, or keeps the UK in the customs union indefinitely.
MP Jeffrey Donaldson said: “This is not the right Brexit because it doesn’t give the United Kingdom as a whole the opportunity to pursue free trade deals and control its own future.
“From what we have seen and heard, we do not believe that this deal is the best deal.”
The party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson added: “We are clear – we will not be voting for this humiliation!”
Tory Remainer Jo Johnson, who quit as a minister last week, said the deal could lead to Cabinet resignations.
He told an anti-Brexit rally last night: “I talk to many MPs, colleagues in the Cabinet and elsewhere.
“I know how much they all think deeply about these issues and they are all looking deep into their consciences and thinking whether they can support this deal.”
Full details of the deal, which was agreed by British and EU officials in Brussels earlier this week, could be published this evening.
Leaks suggest it will contain a backstop deal keeping Britain in the customs union for as long as there is no other way of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Mrs May has apparently defeated the EU’s attempts to impose a different customs regime in Northern Ireland.
But under the backstop, the province would follow separate regulations on some goods.
EU officials have reportedly said they want to use the backstop to trap Britain in the customs union for ever.
In order to avoid that outcome, the deal will contain a review mechanism which the UK can trigger if ministers decide the EU is no longer negotiating in good faith for alternative outcome.
Even if the deal makes it through the Cabinet, Mrs May faces a huge challenge in convincing MPs to back it. (The Sun UK)
And asked if he would write a letter calling for a vote of confidence in the leader, Mr Rees-Mogg replied: “Not in the next 24 hours.”
Ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested Mrs May’s “days are numbered” if she signs a deal which undermines the Union.
Senior DUP figures told the PM they won’t back the agreement if it divides Northern Ireland from Great Britain, or keeps the UK in the customs union indefinitely.
MP Jeffrey Donaldson said: “This is not the right Brexit because it doesn’t give the United Kingdom as a whole the opportunity to pursue free trade deals and control its own future.
“From what we have seen and heard, we do not believe that this deal is the best deal.”
The party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson added: “We are clear – we will not be voting for this humiliation!”
Tory Remainer Jo Johnson, who quit as a minister last week, said the deal could lead to Cabinet resignations.
He told an anti-Brexit rally last night: “I talk to many MPs, colleagues in the Cabinet and elsewhere.
“I know how much they all think deeply about these issues and they are all looking deep into their consciences and thinking whether they can support this deal.”
Full details of the deal, which was agreed by British and EU officials in Brussels earlier this week, could be published this evening.
Leaks suggest it will contain a backstop deal keeping Britain in the customs union for as long as there is no other way of avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Mrs May has apparently defeated the EU’s attempts to impose a different customs regime in Northern Ireland.
But under the backstop, the province would follow separate regulations on some goods.
EU officials have reportedly said they want to use the backstop to trap Britain in the customs union for ever.
In order to avoid that outcome, the deal will contain a review mechanism which the UK can trigger if ministers decide the EU is no longer negotiating in good faith for alternative outcome.
Even if the deal makes it through the Cabinet, Mrs May faces a huge challenge in convincing MPs to back it. (The Sun UK)
