More than 200 MPs are expected to warn Theresa May today they will never accept a no deal Brexit.
The cross-party group led by former Tory Cabinet minister Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour frontbencher Jack Dromey will urge Mrs May to guarantee that the UK will not leave the EU without a deal even if her own proposals are defeated in the Commons next week.
And the group, which includes nine former Cabinet ministers, will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow to press their case that a no-deal Brexit would cause ‘economic damage’ and cost thousands of jobs.
In a letter to Mrs May, they said: ‘As a cross-party group of MPs, business leaders and representatives, we are united in our determination that the UK must not crash out of the EU without a deal.
More than 200 MPs are expected to warn Theresa May today they will never accept a no deal Brexit
‘We urge the Government to agree a mechanism that would ensure a “no deal” Brexit could not take place, and are confident this is a path that Parliament would support.’
Dame Caroline said the group also had the backing of major employers such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus and Ford, and employers’ groups such as the CBI, the EEF manufacturers’ group and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Political signatories include former Tory Cabinet ministers Sir Oliver Letwin, Nicky Morgan and Dominic Grieve, their Labour counterparts Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper, Ben Bradshaw and Liam Byrne, and the former Lib Dem energy secretary Sir Ed Davey.
In a separate move, a smaller cross-party group will fire the first shot in a guerilla war designed to prevent a no deal Brexit.
Miss Cooper and Miss Morgan have proposed an amendment to the Finance Bill, which enacts Budget pledges, that would prevent the Treasury implementing no-deal measures unless the idea of leaving without a deal had been sanctioned by Parliament.
Mrs Morgan said it was ‘time for Parliament to show our opposition to a “no deal” exit’. Miss Cooper said: ‘Time is running out and this is too serious for brinkmanship. Parliament needs to make sure there are opportunities to stop the country reaching the cliff edge by accident. This amendment helps to do that.’
The cross-party group led by former Tory Cabinet minister Dame Caroline Spelman (left) and Labour frontbencher Jack Dromey (right) will urge Mrs May to guarantee that the UK will not leave the EU without a deal even if her own proposals are defeated in the Commons next week
MPs opposed to leaving without a deal are also planning amendments that could prevent ministers being paid and even stop the Treasury collecting taxes, effectively shutting the Government down – a move that angered Tory Brexiteer Charlie Elphicke.
He said: ‘A Trump-style shutdown of Government finances is not the answer. The focus of all MPs should be delivering on the votes of 17.4million people.
‘Making sure we are fully ready for every eventuality is in the national interest. This wrecking amendment is not.’
Eurosceptic former minister Peter Lilley will publish a paper on no deal today, arguing that the economy would prosper under World Trade Organisation rules.
Mrs May warned yesterday that Britain would enter ‘uncharted territory’ if her deal was voted down by MPs next week, telling BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I don’t think anybody can say exactly what will happen.’
But senior Downing Street figures believe MPs could make life all but impossible for the Government if Mrs May attempts to leave the EU without a deal.
One source said: ‘Some of the Eurosceptics think they can defeat the PM’s deal and then just drift to no deal at the end of March. It isn’t going to be like that. The idea that opponents of no deal – who are in the majority – are just going to sit back and let it happen is completely unrealistic.
‘They will try to paralyse the Government. There is a question about how long any government could survive the kind of parliamentary ambushes we may see.’
Mrs May warned yesterday that Britain would enter ‘uncharted territory’ if her deal was voted down by MPs next week, telling BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘I don’t think anybody can say exactly what will happen.’
She said there was a danger ‘we actually end up with no deal at all’.
Senior Tories believe Mrs May would attempt to secure fresh concessions from Brussels if she was defeated, before putting her plan to a vote for a second time. But the PM refused to say yesterday whether she would be prepared to lead Britain out of the EU without a deal.
Urging MPs to back ‘the deal on the table’, she said: ‘I’ve always said no deal is better than a bad deal. What we have on the table is a good deal.’
But International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said a no deal exit was a possibility, claiming that if MPs voted against Mrs May’s deal, ‘we may end up leaving the EU with no deal’. He added: ‘Most people seem to say that’s not what they want to see. Well, they better make up their minds.’
Asked about her own future, Mrs May refused to put a timescale on her departure, adding: ‘I was clear before Christmas with my colleagues on two things – one, I’m not going to call a snap election, and, secondly, I’ m not going to be leading the party into the 2022 general election.’
Theresa May is urged to delay crunch vote on her Brexit deal AGAIN until she wins enough concessions from Brussels to win over rebel MPs
Theresa May is being urged to delay the crunch Commons vote on her Brexit deal a second time until she has secured enough concessions from Brussels to win over her mutinous MPs.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister insisted the vote would go ahead next week after it was axed at the last minute in December.
But with dozens of Eurosceptic Tories and her DUP governing partners threatening to join forces with Labour to vote it down, several ministers are expected to use tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting to urge her to delay again.
One said: ‘It was a mistake last month to name the date for a new vote before knowing we had the concessions needed to win it.
Theresa May is being urged to delay the crunch Commons vote on her Brexit deal a second time until she has secured enough concessions from Brussels to win over her mutinous MPs
‘All a vote now would achieve is to crystallise the lack of support for the deal and potentially kill it. If we need more time to negotiate with Brussels then we should delay.
‘I know she’s saying it will go ahead, but she said that last time, too. Parliament would huff and puff, but in the end there is nothing they can do.’
Another Cabinet source said: ‘She was persuaded to pull the vote last time because she recognised that you cannot go ahead with something if you’re facing a landslide defeat. That logic still applies.’
The vote is expected to be held on or around January 15.
The Daily Mail revealed on Saturday that she hoped to offer MPs a ‘double lock’ on her deal to ease fears about the Irish border backstop
Asked if it was ‘definitely’ going ahead this time, she told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘Yes, we are going to hold the vote.’
The Daily Mail revealed on Saturday that she hoped to offer MPs a ‘double lock’ on her deal to ease fears about the Irish border backstop.
This will involve a Commons amendment giving Parliament the right to serve 12 months’ notice that the UK intended to quit the backstop if Brussels soft-pedalled on a trade deal.
Mrs May is also seeking a written guarantee from the EU that it will conclude a comprehensive trade deal with the UK within 12 months of the end of the Brexit transition – effectively limiting the need for the backstop to no more than a year.
In a third initiative aimed at reassuring Ulster’s DUP, she will offer a guarantee that there will be no divergence between laws in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK during any period in the backstop.
Government sources said further details of the proposals would be released ahead of the start of the Commons debate on the Brexit deal on Wednesday.
But sources admitted the PM had not achieved a breakthrough with Brussels on the scale needed to win over the DUP, whose support is seen as critical in persuading Eurosceptic Tories to drop their opposition.
Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s deputy leader, said yesterday that the backstop – the plan to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland if the UK leaves the EU without a deal – remained the ‘poison’ affecting any vote on the withdrawal agreement in the Commons.
He added: ‘Theresa May still insists that what she has negotiated is a good deal. She should remember that it would already have been consigned to the bin but for her pulling the vote in December.’