David Davis is stepping up preparations for ‘no deal’ Brexit by briefing the Cabinet on the potential benefits.
The Brexit Secretary is said to be planning to deliver an ‘upbeat’ assessment of how the UK could deal with failure to get a trade agreement.
The presentation, expected to happen on Halloween, suggests a shift in the government’s approach to the negotiations amid painfully slow progress in negotiations.
Mr Davis has repeatedly insisted he wants to reach a deal with the EU and has no intention of walking away from discussions – despite being urged to do so by some hardline Brexiteers.
David Davis (pictured in the Commons this week) is stepping up preparations for ‘no deal’ Brexit with a briefing to the Cabinet on the potential benefits
But he has argued that the UK must have an ‘insurance policy’ in place that allows it to thrive if there is no positive settlement.
According to the Times, Mr Davis has ordered officials to plan for a failure to get a trade deal.
He is said to be planning to present this scenario to his colleagues on Halloween, in a move that could alarm more Europhile ministers.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said this week that the prospect of ‘no deal’ Brexit was ‘unthinkable’, and Chancellor Philip Hammond has said it is ‘theoretically’ possible planes could be grounded from the day we leave.
But others such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are much more relaxed about the outcome.
It is the first time Mrs May, who has made clear she prefers the option of a trade agreement, has allowed David Davis to make such a presentation.
Labour former minister Lord Mandelson said today that a failure to get a deal would be ‘disastrous’ for the UK and a ‘national humiliation’.
Former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson has said a no-deal situation is ‘inevitable at the moment’, but stressed that the UK should not be ‘terrified’ of this outcome.
Referring to trading on World Trade Organisation terms, he said: ‘It is an ineluctable certainty we are going to end up with WTO at the end of this anyway.’
News of the preparations came as Mrs May received a boost from Angela Merkel today, with the German chancellor saying she had ‘no doubt’ there will be a ‘good result’ from Brexit talks.
Theresa May held bilateral talks with European Council president Donald Tusk today as she battles to find a way through the Brexit impasse
Some Cabinet ministers such as Boris Johnson appear fairly relaxed about the prospect of not getting a trade deal with the EU
Mrs Merkel signalled the EU is ready to compromise after the PM used a summit dinner to warn she must be able to ‘defend’ a divorce bill to the British public.
Mrs May issued a blunt message to counterparts that she cannot be pushed much further, after agreeing to make a £20billion divorce payment last month.
The 27 other leaders in the room, who had been feasting on pumpkin gnocchi and pheasant, did not respond to the 10-minute intervention, as they have vowed to leave direct negotiations to Eurocrat Michel Barnier.
But shortly afterwards Mrs Merkel told a press conference that the talks were ‘progressing step by step’.
‘If we are all clear in our minds, I have absolutely no doubt that we can reach a good result,’ she said.
Mrs Merkel made clear that ‘both sides have to move.’ In a reference to a recent spat between the UK and the EU commission, she said: ‘I do not only see the ball with Great Britain. I do see it with Great Britain, but at the same time I also see the ball with us.’