Today, Theresa May will warn EU leaders that “legally binding” changes to her Withdrawal Agreement are the only way to stop the UK quitting the bloc without a deal.
Despite her hopes, Downing Street insiders say Mrs May is braced for a flat refusal to her request from European President Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Council President Donald Tusk and other EU figures.
Meanwhile, members of the Conservative Party are buzzing with talk of the so-called Malthouse compromise – a plan drawn up by formerly Leave and Remain-backing Tories, including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Housing Minister Kit Malthouse.
Under its terms, the customs union backstop would be replaced by a “basic free trade agreement” and facilitate an extension of the transition period, during which the UK will effectively function as a non-voting member of the EU, by a year to December 2020.
However, according to one cabinet minister, the Prime Minister has privately abandoned the plan and is just waiting for Brussels to reject it today.
Mrs May’s refusal will likely spark fury from the Tories behind the Malthouse compromise and add another dead end to the list.
Brexit seems to have deeply divided the country and Theresa May’s party in particular, but the rifts in Westminster we see today over Britain’s relationship with the bloc have been a key feature in the political antics of the Conservatives for decades.
According to 1993 book “The Major Enigma” by Penny Junor, the Maastricht Treaty – signed today in 1992 – was “the most damaging issue” to happen to the Conservatives “since it was torn asunder by the Corn Laws in the last century” and arguably was what split the party in an irreparable way.
The Maastricht Treaty split the Conservative Party down the middle in an irreparable way (Image: GETTY)
Theresa May is heading to Brussels hoping to reopen negotiations with the EU over her Brexit deal (Image: GETTY)
As soon as Sir John Major became Prime Minister, he felt the relationship between Britain and the EC – the precursor to the EU – had to change, inevitably irritating his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, who was strongly opposed to European
