Theresa May has headed off a humiliating defeat on a crucial Brexit Bill vote this week as a last-minute compromise deal was thrashed out with Tory rebels.
Arch Remainers Nicky Morgan and Stephen Hammond are backing a customs union amendment in a peace deal also backed by leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Ministers are confident the last-ditch compromise deal, being drawn up by Tory MP and Mrs May’s ex policy adviser Oliver Letwin, will peel enough rebels away.
It is a major boost for Mrs May who feared her Remainer rebels would vote to try to force her to keep the UK in the EU customs union – flouting one of her red lines and derailing her Brexit plans.
Mrs Morgan – one of a small band of Tory rebels who could hold the balance of power in a tight vote – said the deal will ‘buy them time’.
Brexit Minister Steve Baker said the Government will go into tomorrow’s votes with ‘considerable confidence’.
Although other leading rebels, including Anna Soubry and Ken Clarke, have not signed the amendment.
The eleventh hour customs union deal means that all eyes will be on the other key vote tomorrow – whether the Commons should get a ‘meaningful vote’ on the deal.
But the battle between the two warring wings of the Tory Party is just set to be kicked down the road when the Trade and Customs Bills come to Parliament.
Mrs May tonight warned Tory rebels they will ‘undermine’ the UK’s negotiating stance with Brussels if they inflict defeat on her plans, and the party must ‘deliver Brexit’.
Theresa May (pictured in the Commons today) is facing a huge battle to overturn a slew of amendments passed by peers to the EU Withdrawal Bill, She addressed her MPs this evening to urge them to back her and vote down the amendments tables by peers
Arch Remainer Nicky Morgan (pictured left) is backing a customs union amendment which is being drawn up by Oliver Letwin (pictured right), a Tory MP and the PM ‘s former policy adviser
The PM gave her stern warning to the 1922 committee meeting of Tory MPs tonight as she uses her final hours ahead of the crucial Commons showdown to convince potential rebels to abandon their plans.
Instead, she urged her party’s warring factions to send a message of ‘unity’ to the country in crunch votes this week.
She said: ‘We must think about the message Parliament will send to the European Union this week. I am trying to negotiate the best deal for Britain.
‘I am confident I can get a deal that allows us to strike our own trade deals while having a border with the EU which is as frictionless as possible.
‘But if the Lords amendments are allowed to stand, that negotiating position will be undermined.’
And speaking outside the meeting, solicitor general Robert Buckland said the Tories must unite on the Brexit votes warning: ‘We will hang together or we’ll all hang separately’.
The Government is facing a huge battle to overturn a slew of amendments passed by peers to the EU Withdrawal Bill.
A group of pro-EU MPs have been threatening to vote with Labour on changes designed to keep the UK in a customs union with the bloc and guarantee a ‘meaningful’ Commons vote on any final deal.
Senior backbencher Sarah Wollaston said today she was ‘minded’ to rebel against the government.
But furious Eurosceptics have warned that accepting amendments could undermine Brexit altogether – amid claims they could move against Mrs May unless she defies the Remainers.
In a bid to ease the seething tensions, Mrs May appeared before her parliamentary party to try to talk down potential rebels.
And she is expected to have meetings with the ardent Remainers in the hours between now and the crunch votes tomorrow and Wednesday.
As her party remains deeply divided over the Brexit talks, she urged them to overcome their splits and send a message of unity to the country.
Remainers (pictured outside Parliament today where they are demonstrating) want Britain to stay in the EU single market and customs union after Brexit
Anti Brexit campaigners were out in force outside Parliament today as they stage a 24 hour day of action to pile the pressure on MPs to back the Lords amendments
Health Select Committee chair Sarah Wollaston said she was ‘minded’ to rebel to support a Lords amendment on giving Parliament a meaningful vote on an exit deal (file picture)
She said: ‘The message we send to the country through our votes this week is important.
‘We must be clear that we are united as a party in our determination to deliver on the decision made by the British people.’
The appeal comes on the eve of two days of high-stakes debates in the House of Commons.
As allies of the PM stepped up their efforts over the weekend, former Cabinet Ministers Amber Rudd and Iain Duncan Smith told pro-EU backbenchers to ‘march in lockstep’ or risk opening the door for Jeremy Corbyn.
Ms Rudd, who backed Remain, and Mr Duncan Smith, a Brexiteer, accused Mr Corbyn of ‘cynically trying to frustrate the Brexit process for his own political ends’.
Ministers hope to avoid defeat on amendments which seek to keep Britain in the single market and customs union, delay the date of Brexit and tie Mrs May’s hands on the Northern Ireland border.
One of the biggest flashpoints will be a change attempting to guarantee Parliament can force the government to renegotiate any package secured by Mrs May.
Critics say that could remove the threat of the UK simply walking away from a bad deal and could even be used to stop Brexit altogether.
Several Tories have already made clear they will vote against the Prime Minister.
Health Select Committee chair Dr Wollaston said she was ‘minded’ to rebel to support a Lords amendment on giving Parliament a meaningful vote on an exit deal.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the European Economic Area amendment would ‘probably be decided another day’.
‘We would like to see further concessions on the amendment on the customs union because it is just a very sensible amendment that says keep it on the table, don’t completely rule it out,’ she said.
‘I’m minded at the moment to vote for the meaningful final vote.’
She added: ‘If it came back to us then having to have a vote of confidence, we would all vote to support the Prime Minister. We do support the Prime Minister.
‘But, I think what matters most here is that all parliamentarians actually focus on the issue at hand here. This isn’t about narrow party politics.’
Former chancellor Ken Clarke suggested he would vote against the Government on at least three issues including the single market.
Backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said he expected there would be enough unity in Conservative ranks to see the bill through
Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd has issued a joint statement with Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith calling for the Tories to unite behind the PM and vote down the Brexit Bill wrecking amendments
And on Friday fellow rebel Antoinette Sandbach appeared to endorse an article on Twitter under the headline ‘Remainers need courage to go for the kill’.
Backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said he expected there would be enough unity in Conservative ranks to see the bill through.
The Brexit supporter told LBC radio that he would not expect people like Mr Clarke, who have ‘strong principles’, to change their minds.
But the Tory MP said there was a recognition within the party that supporting the bill would strengthen the Prime Minister’s position and help keep Mr Corbyn’s Labour from taking power.
Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘I think there will be some unity this week, it won’t be perfect but it ought to be enough to get the bill through and to reinforce the strength of Theresa May’s position.’
Peers attached 15 amendments to the Bill, which puts EU legislation on the UK statute book and repeals the 1972 European Communities Act.
Ministers will attempt to overturn or amend all but one over 12 hours of debate.
However, Tory rebels will be offset by some Labour MPs going the other way.
Labour MP Caroline Flint, whose Don Valley seat voted two to one to leave, said any delay to leaving would mean voters taking part in EU elections next year which would be ‘completely wrong’.