THE
British Government will “collapse” if
Theresa May succeeds in securing enough support to see her
Brexit withdrawal agreement go through, Brexiteer
Steve Baker warned.
Steve Baker issued the Prime Minister a dire warning, claiming her Government will “collapse” if the draft withdrawal agreement is voted on in the Commons. Mr Baker objected to being defined as a “hardliner” in the Tory Party as he insisted he wanted Mrs May to deliver on the 2016 referendum results. Speaking to Today, he said: “Where this deal to pass through Parliament with this backstop, the Government would subsequently collapse because the DUP will not be able to maintain confidence and supply if this deal goes through.
"I’m absolutely convinced my position is eminently reasonable and right."
Mr Baker, the co-chair of the eurosceptic
European Research Group (ERG), said ERG members objected to Mrs May "reinterpreting" last month's vote to replace the Withdrawal Agreement's backstop with alternative arrangements for keeping the Irish border open.
He said: "We put an enormous amount of effort into uniting the party around the Malthouse Compromise, and then within a couple of days the Prime Minister was reinterpreting our vote.
"I'm afraid people didn't want to be treated like that twice."
Mr Baker said: "I really do rather object to being called 'hardline' when what we are doing is trying to deliver an exit with a deal which works for everybody, with a transition period. We are making enormous compromises to work across the party."
Theresa May on Thursday received yet another defeat in the Commons after MPs voted down a motion seeking their renewed support for the Prime Minister's attempts to renegotiate the controversial Irish backstop.
The Prime Minister has conceded that her previous promise to MPs that she would seek to “reopen” her draft EU withdrawal agreement and deliver “significant and legally-binding” changes is unachievable.
Express.co.uk understands that Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, that the Government is now focused on the result rather than reopening the divorce deal during a private dinner in Brussels earlier this week.
Mr Barclay told the Frenchman that minor changes would have to outline the temporary nature of the backstop and must be legally binding satisfy Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, and the Democratic Unionist Party.
But EU sources revealed they were infuriated that Mr Barclay was unable to say what wording the Government wants bolted on to the backstop or what is needed to get the deal through the Commons.
During their private dinner, the Brexit Secretary told his counterpart that the Government is reaching out to Labour MPs in Leave-voting constituencies having given up on convincing Tory backbenchers to back the deal.
The move is likely to infuriate hardline Conservative Brexiteers after the Government backed the Brady amendment that called for the backstop to be scrapped and replaced with “alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border” in Ireland.
Critics in Westminster fear the EU could hold Britain hostage in a permanent customs union if the backstop is ever triggered.
In a series of tweets in the early hours of Friday, Government minister Alistair Burt insisted that there would not be a no-deal Brexit.
Responding to a claim from eurosceptic former Brexit secretary David Davis that the Government was ready to take the UK out of the EU without an agreement, Mr Burt said: "No. We won't. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you'd better agree one. In the next fortnight would help."
And the Foreign Office minister later added: "There is a majority in the House to reject no deal. Let's Leave, with the Agreement, and the chance of a new relationship with the EU. Honours both Leavers and those who voted to Remain. Let's all make the compromise."