Brexit deal latest: Tory MPs ‘close to despair over state of talks’

Theresa May was accused of a “desperate last move” today as she admitted she could delay Britain’s final departure from the European Union until almost 2022.

The Prime Minister faced a furious backlash from Tory MPs for confirming that she is considering remaining “a matter of months” longer in the transition period, during which full EU rules will still apply.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis, who is being mooted as a replacement Conservative leader, hit out, telling the Evening Standard: “This is moving in the wrong direction.

"This is what the EU wants, so why are we offering it? It involves more money, more restrictions, and less control over our own destiny, and it does not deliver any promise of any future economic partnership of any sort.”

Arriving at day two of the Brussels summit today, Mrs May confirmed for the first time that she was considering the idea, adding: “But the point is that this is not expected to be used.”

British officials stressed that an extension would only be used if more time was needed to put in place a permanent deal on the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU. Full talks on a deal will only begin after formal Brexit next March, and few believe they can be concluded in under two years. Mrs May’s de facto deputy David Lidington called it “an insurance policy”.

However, dismay at what was seen by MPs as a possible step backwards for UK negotiators went beyond Brexiteers. Former minister Nick Boles, a prominent Remain campaigner in 2016, criticised the Prime Minister for making “humiliating concessions” in a vain hope that implacable EU leaders would bend on the Irish border impasse.

“It really is a desperate last move,” he said, adding that Tory MPs were “close to despair” at the state of the negotiations. He predicted that Britain would end up paying an extra £16 billion to extend the transition for a year, until December 2021, rather than the £9 billion that the UK currently pays per year because it would overlap a new EU budget period.

“It’s a classic of negotiations that she keeps on thinking that one more concession is going to somehow mean with one bound she’s free,” he told the BBC. “And she’s not going to be free, she’s getting ever more trapped. I’m afraid she is losing the confidence of colleagues of all shades of opinion, people who have been supportive of her throughout this process.”

Mrs May was facing growing pressure from three directions at once: From Brexiteers in the Government, worried about the legal implications of the Irish border backstop; from Remainers in Parliament who were angered by an attempt by the Government to curtail MPs’ power to amend the final Brexit deal and engineer a “my deal or no-deal” showdown; and from EU leaders who last night united behind a curt demand for Britain to come up with fresh ideas.

A source close to Brexiteer ministers said any extension was “a smokescreen” because the real issue was whether Mrs May signed an Irish border backstop that legally ties Britain into a permanent customs arrangement with the bloc. “Nobody would welcome an extension, but it might be tolerable if it provided time to negotiate a Canada-style trade deal,” said the source. “But the backstop is the issue that matters right now and her team has shown no new ideas on how to deal with that.”

On her arrival for today’s talks, Mrs May made clear she would accept an extension only as a means to ensure there was no hard border in Ireland while talks continued. “A further idea that has emerged — and it is an idea at this stage — is to create an option to extend the implementation period for a matter of months, and it would only be for a matter of months,” she said.

“But the point is that this is not expected to be used, because we are working to ensure that we have that future relationship in place by the end of December 2020. I’m clear that it is possible to do that and that is what we are working for.”

Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, said time was running out for a deal but gloated that the EU27 were not under any pressure.

In a joint letter with other Brexiteers, Boris Johnson said: “We urge you to make clear that you will not bind the UK into the purgatory of perpetual membership of the EU’s customs union, whether by a backstop or any other route.”