Theresa May secured a critical breakthrough on Brexit last night.
After a day of confusion and rumour at Westminster, the Prime Minister dashed by plane to Strasbourg for emergency talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
Her deputy David Lidington told MPs she had won legally binding changes to the Irish backstop to reassure Eurosceptics that they can vote for her withdrawal agreement tonight without locking Britain into a customs union.
If the breakthrough is signed off, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is expected to set out fresh legal advice to MPs today before they vote on the withdrawal agreement for the second time. The first vote resulted in a record Government defeat.
Sealed with a kiss: Michel Barnier (right) kisses the hand of Prime Minister Theresa Mayas she arrives at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France for last-minute emergency talks over the backstop arrangement
Leading Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg congratulated Mrs May on the concessions she had drawn out of the EU, but regarding today's 'Meaningful Vote' said that ‘it’s too early to tell definitively but it’s clearly a step in the right direction’
Brexit minister Robin Walker said MPs would tonight ‘face a fundamental choice – back the Brexit deal or risk a delay that would mean months more spent arguing about Brexit and prolonging the current uncertainty – uncertainty that would do nothing but pass control to Brussels and increase the risks’.
Responding to the news, Jacob Rees-Mogg told BBC Newsnight: ‘It’s too early to tell definitively but it’s clearly a step in the right direction.’
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The leading Eurosceptic added that it would be important to see the details and that support from the DUP would be ‘a very important and significant factor’.
Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who voted against the deal in January, said: ‘I remain hopeful that the Attorney General’s legal advice will change, that the DUP will vote with us and we can get this done.’
If the vote is lost, Mrs May has agreed to give MPs the chance to rule out No Deal tomorrow. Parliament would then be asked on Thursday whether to seek an extension of Article 50 that would delay Brexit.
A cross-party group of MPs, led by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tories Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles, yesterday said it would then seize control of the agenda and try to force through a super-soft Brexit that would allow free movement to continue.
Some senior Tories last night said they believed Mrs May would rather call an election than lose control of the Brexit process. As a source said she had ordered her team to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at the talks:
The Government tabled a motion including the changes to the withdrawal agreement;The pound rose sharply on the international currency markets as traders gambled Mrs May was on the brink of a deal;DUP leader Arlene Foster – whose support is seen as vital – was being briefed on details of the plan last night by Tory chief whip Julian Smith; Remainer MPs warned Mrs May would be found ‘in contempt of Parliament’ if she tried to pull the planned votes ruling out No Deal on March 29 and authorising a Brexit delay; Sources in Brussels said EU negotiator Michel Barnier rounded on Mr Cox for suggesting at the weekend that the UK should be able to seek exit from the backstop on the day it begins;The Irish cabinet was summoned to emergency talks in Dublin to discuss the concessions being offered by the EU.After weeks of talks, the EU is understood to have agreed on a legally-binding document in which Brussels accepts it ‘cannot act with the intention of applying the backstop indefinitely’.
Failure to keep the promise would allow the UK to seek legal arbitration that could open up a route out of a
