Brexit news latest: Theresa May grappling with open Cabinet warfare over deal or no deal

Theresa May was today grappling with open Cabinet warfare over Brexit amid rising speculation that a general election is on the way.

The Prime Minister called meetings with groups of ministers in a bid to identify compromises that might rescue her withdrawal deal.

But the talks were pre-empted by Cabinet members who took sides on Twitter.

Amber Rudd, Work and Pensions Secretary, wrote “worth remembering” above a CBI message that said “business is united in saying no-deal is unmanageable”.

She was retweeted by Justice Secretary David Gauke, in a show of solidarity between two of the Cabinet’s opponents of a hard Brexit.

Pro-Brexit Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt entered the fray by tweeting that no-deal might be the best option, and that to rule it out would weaken Britain’s negotiating hand.

Supporting members of the Question Time audience who last night cheered the prospect of no-deal, Ms Mordaunt sought to explain their enthusiasm by saying “they might have judged that the upsides of leaving outweigh the downsides of staying/No Deal disruption”.

Alternatively, she mused, they felt “it’s only when ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ is believed by the EU that we’ll maximise our chance of a deal” or that “not honouring the result of the referendum would be appalling”.

Downing Street said the PM was speaking to a “large number” of Cabinet ministers, understood to be more than half, individually and in groups.

The Evening Standard has learned that one group includes Brexiteers Andrea Leadsom, Liam Fox, Ms Mordaunt, Chris Grayling and Geoffrey Cox, plus three former Remain campaigners — Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

But Environment Secretary Michael Gove was not expected to join the Brexiteer group. One ministerial source said he was believed to be privately backing the so-called Norway-plus model.

Another group was expected to include soft-Brexiteers, including Business Secretary Greg Clark, Mr Gauke and Ms Rudd. They are backing Chancellor Philip Hammond who told business leaders that MPs would be allowed to remove “no-deal” from the table.

Commons Leader Ms Leadsom is understood to believe that moves to veto a no-deal departure are a “Trojan Horse” designed to prevent Brexit. A source said that if there was no majority for any deal, it could be used to force indefinite extensions to Article 50. The key dividing lines, according to sources from the rival groups, were whether to soften Mrs May’s “red line” against a customs union; whether to go to the EU for backstop concessions or seek a soft Brexit deal with Labour MPs; whether to be willing to delay Brexit; and whether to rule out a no-deal exit.

With the Cabinet and Parliament deeply divided, alarm bells were ringing across Whitehall that an impasse could lead to a snap general election. It was revealed Britain’s most senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, met Government department heads and ordered them to get ready for an election in case one is needed to break the political deadlock.

Mrs May’s official spokeswoman said the PM’s “focus is on leaving the European Union with a deal — that is what she believes is the way to leave in a smooth and orderly way”.

The spokeswoman ruled out Mrs May seeking to call a snap election.

The PM spoke to German chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte yesterday and is due to hold further talks with EU leaders, including possibly with French president Emmanuel Macron, Irish premier Leo Varadkar and Donald Tusk, president of the European Council.

She will make a statement to Parliament on Monday when a neutral motion will be tabled on the Government’s latest stance following the crushing of her Brexit proposals in the Commons earlier this week.

There were no plans for her to speak to Jeremy Corbyn today but her door remained “open”.

On the no-deal threat, the PM’s spokeswoman added: “It’s a simple fact that we will leave without one if we can’t come to an agreement.” She said there had been “good discussion” with Opposition leaders and MPs. But doubts remained over whether Mrs May would be willing to compromise, with the spokeswoman saying: “Our principles that were set out earlier in the week remain.” Pressed on reports Britain had so far failed to finalise most of the trade deals needed to replace the EU’s existing ones, the spokeswoman insisted a number were in an “advanced” stage.

The DUP denied a Times report that it would tolerate a customs union for the whole UK as it would ensure Northern Ireland would not be treated differently to the rest of the country.

In a speech today, Boris Johnson opposed a customs union, saying it would empower the EU to “snuff out” the success of British inventions by using regulations. The former foreign secretary said a customs union would make Britain “non-voting members of the EU single market, forced to take rules from Brussels” that could ban new designs.

He was also accused of burnishing his leadership ambitions by calling for careful thinking on immigration.

Gordon Brown used a speech in Edinburgh last night to call on the Government to extend Article 50 by a year — and Britain was urged to remain by Angela Merkel’s likely successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.