Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan today risked plunging the Government into fresh Brexit turmoil when he said that Britain could hold a referendum on the exit deal.
Remainers have called for another vote on the terms of the deal in the hope this would effectively force the PM to keep the UK in the EU single market and customs union.
Theresa May has insisted that another vote cannot be called it would bind her hands in negotiations with Brussels and leave Britain with a worse deal.
But speaking in Berlin today, Sir Alan – Boris Johnson’s deputy – suggested another vote could be held in comments that are likely to spark fury among Brexiteers, according to Bloomberg.
He said: ‘It would, I suppose, just be possible to ask the people in a referendum if they liked the exit deal or not.
‘It would not in reality offer people the option of reversing the original decision to leave the EU.’
Sir Alan Duncan suggested another vote could be held in comments that are likely to spark fury among Brexiteers and contradicting government policy (file pic)
Sir Alan voted to stay in the EU hi the 2016 referendum – although he describes himself as a Eurosceptic.
The remark was seized upon by Remain-backing Labour MP Darren Jones, who is a member of the anti-Brexit group Best for Britain.
He said: ‘Alan Duncan has joined the growing tide of MPs who have recognised that the momentous decision to leave the EU on the government’s terms – after months of back-and-forth, uncertainty, and indecision – must be put the people.
‘And though Alan Duncan has tried to shut the door on that vote giving people the option to remain, the floodgates are now well and truly open.
‘The public don’t want or deserve a false choice, gamed by the government. They want a real say.
‘That is why, once the Prime Minister has agreed a deal with Brussels and we finally know what Brexit will look like, that deal must be put to the people.’
His remarks come after a day of chaos on Brexit for the Government as David Davis dramatically threatened to quit the Cabinet over the PM’s backstop plans.
After tense discussions with her Brexit Secretary Mrs May caved in to his demands by adding a 2022 ‘end date’ to her Irish border compromise plan.
The text finally published by the government this afternoon says the UK ‘expects’ the fallback arrangements to expire by the end of 2021 ‘at the latest’.
However, that represents another year lashed to EU rules after the end of the mooted transition period in December 2020.
Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street with her husband Philip) has insisted that another vote cannot be called it would bind her hands in negotiations with Brussels and leave Britain with a worse deal
The Prime Minister (pictured in Downing Street with her husband Philip as she left to fly out of the UK for the G7 summit in Canada) had her Brexit plans thrown into turmoil today after David Davis threatened to quit amid fears her Plan B option would leave the UK tied to the EU’s customs union for years
Eurosceptics also pointed out that the new wording stops short of setting an absolute deadline.
The PM’s climbdown came after hours of chaotic crisis talks following a furious protest at the blueprint.
She also met Boris Johnson and Liam Fox face-to-face in her Commons office.
The situation threatened to spiral out of control after Mr Davis took a stand over the text of a document circulated yesterday setting out the backstop proposals.
These will govern future customs arrangements if the UK and Brussels fail to find a wider solution to the Northern Ireland border issue.