Angela Merkel today praised Theresa May for making ‘progress’ on the Brexit talks after facing down her Cabinet at the Chequers showdown.
In the first serious reaction from an EU leader to the controversial plan, the German Chancellor said she hoped negotiations could now resume.
Standing alongside the Chancellor at a conference in London, Mrs May insisted her plan ‘keeps faith’ with Leave voters – despite howls of outrage from Brexiteers and a cascade of protest resignations from her Government.
Mrs Merkel’s intervention came after EU chief negotiator Michael Barnier appeared to offered an olive branch to the UK.
In a striking change of tone, Mr Barnier said the Brexit deal was ’80 per cent done’ and he expected the formal publication of the government’s proposals would spark a ‘constructive conversation’.
At a joint press conference with Mrs May, Mrs Merkel said: ‘We are looking forward to interesting discussions, but we will also have these discussions inspired by the spirit of friendship and the wish to have good relations in the future.”
The remarks from both Mrs Merkel and Mr Barnier will encourage Mrs May.
She has put the fate of her premiership on the line to force her ‘third way’ Brexit plans through after a Cabinet showdown last week.
Boris Johnson and David Davis inflicted major blows on the government by quitting in protest at the ‘weak’ blueprint, warning that they offered too many concessions.
As the PM and German chancellor attended a summit in London (pictured), the EU’s chief negotiator Michael Barnier appeared to offered an olive branch to the UK
In a striking change of tone from Brussels, Michel Barnier (pictured at the Council of Foreign Relations think-tank in New York today) said he expected the formal publication of the government’s proposals would spark a ‘constructive conversation’
Mr Barnier’s tone today was softer than last week, when he warned there was no possibility that EU would allow the single market to be compromised
Tory backbenchers are also on the verge of open insurrection against the PM.
But Mrs May has insisted that her proposals are the only way of protecting the economy and preventing a hard Irish border, while at the same time scrapping free movement and allowing the UK to strike new trade deals.
She was expected to hold talks with Mrs Merkel on the sidelines of the Western Balkans summit in London this afternoon – and could press other EU leaders at a NATO summit over the coming days.
Mr Barnier warned last week that there was no possibility that EU would allow the single market to be compromised.
However, speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations think-tank in New York this afternoon, Mr Barnier seemed to adopt a much softer stance.
‘After 12 months of negotiations we have agreed on 80 per cent of the negotiations,’ he said.
He added that he was determined to reach agreement on the remaining 20 per cent by October or November.
Mr Barnier said he was pleased the UK is ‘discussing the future relationship, taking positions… and avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland’.
‘We need clarity for these negotiations to move forward for the time is very short,’ he said.
Boris Johnson has been spotted at his London home (pictured) and at Parliament this afternoon after quitting in protest at the PM ‘third way’ Brexit plan
Guto Harri (right) pictured with Mr Johnson at a book launch before he entered government
Mr Barnier refused to comment on the upheaval wracking Mrs May’s government.
‘As EU negotiator I will negotiate only with the British government… so our next negotiations will be Next Monday with the British delegation appointed by Mrs May.’
In other developments, Mr Johnson was staying tight-lipped today after his resignation drama – as his former spin doctor predicted he will try to oust Theresa May.
The former Foreign Secretary has been spotted at his London home and at Parliament this afternoon after quitting in protest at the PM ‘third way’ Brexit plan.
Despite a growing clamour from Tory Eurosceptics for a move against Mrs May, aides are adamant he is not planning anything immediate.
Guto Harri, who was his press chief, said he was certain Mr Johnson will mount a challenge for the leadership soon.
But he warned that the MP, whom he worked for as London Mayor, was in danger of going past his sell by date.
Mr Harri said Mr Johnson risked becoming an ‘old boxer’ who was ‘getting back in the ring when he shouldn’t’.
He also cautioned that the ex-Cabinet minister’s band of supporters appeared to be ‘diminishing’.
‘I would never underestimate Boris, but he’s now in grave danger of becoming the old boxer too desperate not to get back in the ring when he shouldn’t,’ he wrote in an article for GQ magazine.
‘I’ve little doubt he will challenge, and he’ll do so while his diminishing band of supporters are screaming for a spectacle.
Theresa May tweeted a picture of her new-look Cabinet team today saying they had a ‘productive’ meeting. Left to right around the table are (from number 1 up): Tory chairman Brandon Lewis, Welsh Secretary Alan Cairns, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, Education Secretary Damian Hinds, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, National Security Adviser Mark Sedwill, PM Theresa May, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, Scottish Secretary David Mundell, (unidentified), immigration minister Caroline Nokes, Chief Secretary to Treasury Liz Truss, Chief Whip Julian Smith, energy minister Claire Perry, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Lord Leader Ruth Evans, Business Secretary Greg Clark, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington, Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC
Eight Cabinet ministers have now departed Mrs May’s team over the past year. Highlighted in red in this graphic, they are (front row left to right) Michael Fallon, Amber Rudd, Damian Green, Boris Johnson, Justine Greening, David Davis. On the back row is Sir Patrick McLoughlin, and on the second row to the right is Priti Patel
‘But the last Conservative leadership race did terrible damage. Another could be a sorry sight.’
Mrs May vowed defiance today as she gathered her new-look Cabinet after filling the holes left by the departures of Mr Johnson and David Davis.
The Prime Minister praised the ‘productive’ first meeting with her reshaped team as she tries to draw a line under the furore.
She also confirmed that the White Paper setting out her controversial Brexit plans will be published on Thursday.
Mrs May scrambled to fill the holes in Cabinet last night with a series of radical moves – shifting Jeremy Hunt to Foreign Secretary and Dominic Raab into the key Brexit Secretary role.
The Prime Minister (pictured at No10 today) is trying to get back on the front foot after shoring up her team following the shattering departures of David Davis and Boris Johnson
Business Secretary Greg Clark (left) was at Downing Street for the Cabinet gathering today, as was the new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab
Mrs May scrambled to fill the holes in Cabinet last night with a series of radical moves – shifting Jeremy Hunt (pictured right at No10 this morning) to Foreign Secretary. Matt Hancock (pictured left today) has become Health Secretary
Matt Hancock has been promoted from the Culture department to Health Secretary as the premier digs in for an attritional battle with Eurosceptics.
Tweeting a picture of the Cabinet meeting, Mrs May said: ‘Productive Cabinet meeting this morning – looking ahead to a busy week. And sending our best wishes to @England for tomorrow!’
Downing Street said ministers ‘discussed the forthcoming publication of the White Paper on the future partnership with the EU and how no deal with is being stepped up’.
The meeting also covered Salisbury, the Nato summit and ‘formally congratulated the England team’.
Chief whip Julian Smith has been a key player in the Tory drama unfolding at Westminster. Andrew Bridgen has become the first Tory MP publicly to confirm he has sent a letter urging a no confidence vote
In a boost for Mrs May, it emerged last night that the chair of the powerful Tory 1922 committee has yet to receive the 48 letters from MPs needed to trigger a no-confidence vote.
But although she has weathered the initial shock of the resignations, furious Brexiteers have warned that a challenge could come within weeks unless she changes policy.
Andrew Bridgen today became the first Tory MP to publish a letter he has sent to the 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady calling for a confidence vote.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the Eurosceptic ERG bloc of Tory MPs, has also warned that up to 100 MPs are ready to vote down her proposals if they come before Parliament.
There is anger that politicians who campaigned for Remain in the referendum are now installed in the four Great Offices of State – with Mrs May as PM, Philip Hammond Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt Foreign Secretary, and Sajid Javid Home Secretary.
Chris Grayling (left) and Liam Fox are key Brexiteers in the Cabinet after the departure of Mr Johnson and David Davis
Chief secretary Liz Truss and new Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright were at the Cabinet meeting today
Justice Secretary David Gauke insisted the Cabinet was now fully behind Mrs May’s approach on Brexit after the departures.
‘Clearly David and Boris have reached their conclusions that they couldn’t support the policy. I think it is right the cabinet backs the prime minister and speaks with one voice and if people don’t do that then clearly the honourable thing to do is go,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Michael Gove sparked a mini-panic in Westminster this morning as he cancelled a press conference.
However, a diary clash was blamed and he surfaced to declare that he backed the Prime Minister’s plans ‘100 per cent’ and was ‘absolutely not’ planning to resign.
He told reporters outside his house: ‘I admire Boris and David very much and I’m sorry that they have left the Government, but … I hope you have a lovely day.’
David Davis (pictured leaving radio studios in London yesterday) sparked the latest turmoil by resigning over the PM’s Brexit plans
In a long resignation letter, Mr Johnson said selling the policy would ‘stick in the throat’ and he could not stand by waving ‘white flags’ of surrender
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was seen to shake his head and mouth the word ‘No’ when reporters asked him on his way out of Cabinet whether he was about to quit.
After Cabinet, Mrs May headed to a service at Westminster Abbey commemorating the 100th anniversary of the RAF.
She read the Hebrews 11:32-12:2 Bible passage, praising those ‘who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised’.
In words that could almost have been a message to Brexiteers, it heralds those whose ‘weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies’.
‘These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect,’ the passage states.
Mr Johnson gave a scathing verdict on Mrs May’s Brexit plans in his resignation letter, saying the ‘Brexit dream is dying, suffocated by needless self doubt’.
The ex Foreign Secretary said Mrs May was putting Britain on a track to having ‘the status of a colony’.
Mr Johnson said Britain was destined for a ‘semi Brexit’ if the blueprint agreed by the Cabinet at Chequers on Friday is delivered.
Who are the newly promoted Cabinet ministers?
Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary
One of the great survivors of the modern Tory party, Hunt has just concluded the longest-ever stint at the Department of Health.
A Remainer-turned-Brexiteer, Hunt is one of just three Tory ministers to have served every day as a Cabinet minister since David Cameron became PM in 2010 – alongside Philip Hammond and Theresa May.
He survived a political near-death experience as Culture Secretary in 2012 after becoming embroiled in a scandal over Murdoch’s first bid to buy Sky at the height of the phone hacking scandal.
Matt Hancock, Health Secretary
The only MP with his own smart phone app, Hancock is a deeply ambitious minister who was among the first of the 2010 intake to get on the Government career ladder.
Shortly after his first promotion, Hancock infamously compared himself to famous ex Prime Ministers Churchill, Disraeli and Pitt.
May finally have him the Cabinet promotion he craved in July 2016 and he set about expanding the Government’s digital agenda – even adding it to the name of his department.
Bizarrely, he was filmed singing Happy Birthday to himself at Tory Party conference karaoke later that year.
Geoffrey Cox, Attorney General
Infamously the MP on the green benches with the highest outside earnings, Cox is prestigious and senior barrister.
He has never joined the Government in a 13-year Commons career but has earned millions continuing his work at the Bar.
Cox was forced to resign from a committee post in October 2015 after failing to declare £325,000 in outside earnings.
He was also slammed for expense claims for a 49p bottle of milk and £2 of tea bags.
Dominic Raab, Brexit Secretary
A close ally of the man he replaced as Brexit Secretary, Raab has long been seen as a potential high flyer – and one who Theresa May had been keen to keep out of the Cabinet.
He was a senior campaigner in Vote Leave and a frequent face on television to defend the Government since first being made a minister in 2015.
May dumped him from her first Government in July 2016 but he was back as Housing Minister a year later – refuelling the view among some Tories he could be a future leader.
A karate black belt, Raab has a long history of right-wing remarks many find unpalatable – including branding feminists ‘obnoxious bigots’.
Jeremy Wright, Culture Secretary
In a four year spell as the Government’s chief law officer under both Cameron and May, Wright’s main claim to fame was as the face of the Government’s defence in the court case on Article 50.
Wright personally led the Government’s case in the High Court – but lost, leaving him to take a back seat during the final round in the Supreme Court.
A further defeat to Gina Miller prompted some calls for his resignation.
Moving into the main Cabinet as a full Secretary of State is a highly unorthodox promotion for an Attorney General.
Theresa May (pictured this morning leaving No 10) welcomed the new members of her Cabinet to Downing Street for their first meeting today