PM stuck in the middle with EU: Tories at war - again - after DUP shoots down deal on Brexit

Clowns to the left of May, jokers to the right
British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker at the summit yesterday
AFP
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Theresa May was plunged into a fresh bout of Tory infighting today after her attempt to strike a Brexit deal was shot down by her allies in the Democratic Unionist Party.

A former Whitehall mandarin warned that the Prime Minister’s authority had been damaged by yesterday’s chaotic public failure in Brussels.

With No 10 looking weakened, Conservatives on opposite sides of the Brexit divide seized the chance to step up their demands, leaving Mrs May facing what one senior Tory described as a “s***storm”.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson and former business minister Anna Soubry called for a deal to keep close trade relations between the UK and the European Union, avoiding the risk of a “hard border” in Ireland or Northern Ireland being separated from the mainland.

But hardline Brexiteers David Jones and John Redwood, both former Cabinet ministers on the party’s Right wing, threatened a rebellion, pushing instead for a full break with the EU that critics say would endanger peace in Northern Ireland.

Mrs May’s authority was being put to the test at this morning’s weekly Cabinet, where colleagues were watching for dissent from Brexit-backers such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

Ruth Davidson called for a deal to keep close trade relations between the UK and the European Union
Getty Images

However, the former top Foreign Office official Peter Ricketts said the damage had been done in yesterday’s shambolic talks. “It leaves an impression that the Prime Minister hasn’t got the authority to get through these difficult negotiations,” he said.

Mrs May was humiliated after she set out to agree a draft deal with the EU offering “continuing regulatory alignment” between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

The Prime Minister then had to leave a lunch with the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, to speak with DUP leader Arlene Foster, who effectively vetoed the deal.

Her party’s 10 MPs at Westminster are propping up Mrs May’s minority government through a confidence and supply agreement.

The DUP, Northern Ireland’s largest party, objects to the phrase in the draft agreement apparently guaranteeing “regulatory alignment” between the province and the Republic. The DUP says this would prevent Northern Ireland from leaving the EU “on the same terms” as the rest of the UK.

Lord Ricketts told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s pretty extraordinary that this wasn’t all stitched up with the DUP beforehand. We’re used to prime ministers going to Brussels and having a row with the EU and coming back without an agreement, but to go agree with the EU and then have a row on your own side is inconvenient.”

The former diplomat said a “fudge” that suits both Dublin and the DUP would be “more difficult to find ... under the glare of the political spotlight”.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader at Westminster, told the Standard that he had “constructive” talks with Tory chief whip Julian Smith last night in the Commons.

"He said he hoped for a solution this week but insisted it must be one that “protects the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom”.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "We are very confident" at a meeting of EU finance ministers

A government source said David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, may return for further negotiations in Brussels tomorrow. The source was “confident” of a deal being reached before next week’s summit of EU leaders, which Mrs May hopes will lead to approval for trade talks. He blamed “inflated expectations” in Brussels for the breakdown, including a leak to the Irish media.

The source said the idea of “some regulatory alignment” for the UK and EU had been agreed by the Cabinet ahead of Mrs May’s Florence speech in September.

Chancellor Philip Hammond was upbeat at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, saying: “We are very confident.”

Mrs May plans to return to Brussels before the end of the week, aiming to get a draft deal agreed for the summit on December 14-15.

Ms Davidson called for a full trade arrangement, saying: “If regulatory alignment in a number of specific areas is the requirement for a frictionless border, then the Prime Minister should conclude this must be on a UK-wide basis.” Ms Soubry said: “If regulatory alignment is good enough for Northern Ireland then it’s good enough for the entire UK. So let’s embrace it & keep UK together.”

However, Mr Jones, a former Brexit minister, said: “If we are to have Brexit at all, we have to make sure we are free to conduct our own trade arrangements. If we maintain regulatory alignment with the EU that makes it difficult, if not impossible.”

Ex-Welsh Secretary Mr Redwood said: “I continue to support the Government’s stated view that it must take back control of our money, our borders and our laws, and that no deal is better than a bad deal.”

Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, insisted Dublin would not budge from its pledge to veto trade talks unless Britain gave an assurance there would be no hard border.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: “This could be the moment for opposition and soft Brexit/remain Tories to force a different, less damaging approach — keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

"But it needs Labour to get its act together. How about it?”

On Twitter, his predecessor Ed Miliband said: “What an absolutely ludicrous, incompetent, absurd, make it up as you go along, couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery bunch of jokers there are running the government at the most critical time in a generation for the country.”

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