Cabinet will hold discussions on ramping up no deal

December 12, 2018

Ministers set to hold discussions on ramping up no deal preparations at Cabinet as May’s Brexit deal is on the brink of collapse

Cabinet meeting tomorrow morning will hold crunch talks on no deal planning
PM in a desperate scramble to save her Brexit plan after delaying crunch vote
She is on EU-wide tour today and will go to Brussels for EU summit on Thursday

Ministers are set to hold crunch talks on ramping up no deal preparations as Theresa May’s Brexit deal is on the brink of collapse.

The PM will gather her Cabinet in Number Ten tomorrow where they will discuss contingency plans in case Britain crashes out of the bloc.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is expected to kick off the talks by outlining the measures officials are taking to protect Britain’s border from chaos.

The Cabinet meeting has been delayed by 24 hours as Mrs May embarks on a last-ditch tour of Europe as she tries to salvage her Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister has met Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte for breakfast in the Hague, and is holding crucial talks with Angela Merkel in Berlin as she begs for concessions that could win over furious MPs.

She is also due to head for Brussels for discussions with Donald Tusk and Mr Juncker as they desperately try to find a way through the mounting crisis.

And she will return to Brussels on Thursday for an EU summit where leaders will discuss the Brexit crisis.

But Mr Tusk, the president of the EU Council, last night warned that the bloc is also stepping up its no deal planning.

The PM (pictured today in Berlin with Angela Merkel for emergency Brexit talks) will gather her Cabinet in Number Ten tomorrow where they will discuss contingency plans in case Britain crashes out of the bloc

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It comes after she had to humiliatingly delay the crunch Commons vote on her deal yesterday, admitting she faced certain defeat on it.

She is under huge pressure to secure major chances to the hated Irish backstop plan, which is threatening to torpedo her deal – and premiership.

The backstop keeps the UK tied to the EU customs union and imposes extra single market checks on Northern Ireland if no trade deal is reached in time.

Juncker delivers hammer blow to May’s hopes of saving her Brexit deal

EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warned ‘there is no room for renegotiation’

Jean-Claude Juncker delivered a hammer blow to Theresa May’s hopes of saving her Brexit deal today as she embarked on a frantic tour of Europe.

She is also due to head for Brussels for discussions with Donald Tusk and Mr Juncker as they desperately try to find a way through the mounting crisis.

But senior Tories fear she will get ‘jack sh**’ out of the whirlwind tour, after the EU dismissed the idea of unpicking the legal text of the package or the controversial Irish border backstop.

And in a speech to MEPs today EU commission president Mr Juncker warned ‘there is no room for renegotiation, but further clarifications are possible’.

But it has sparked fury from all sides as Britain cannot leave the backstop without the permission of the EU – prompting accusations it would turn the UK into a ‘vassal state’.

Mrs May is hoping to win a major change which would allow the UK to either unilaterally withdraw from the backstop, or set a strict time limit on it – perhaps of a year.

Yet her hopes received a hammer blow when Jean-Claude Juncker today warned ‘there is no room for renegotiation, but further clarifications are possible’.

And in Westminster her critics are sharpening their knives and launching a fresh bid to oust her.

Tory Brexit rebels are urging fellow Conservatives to send their letters of no confidence in to force mrs May out.

Tory MP Steve Baker, the organiser in chief at the Brexit backing European Research Group, warned his colleagues they face the ‘certainty of failure’ under Mrs May, and urging them: ‘You must be brave.’

He added: ‘I really think it is her duty now to go.’

While Remainers are seizing on the chaos to step up their efforts to force another referendum and try to stop Brexit altogether.

and there are mounting calls for Article 50 to be revoked and Brexit to be delayed to buy extra time for the crunch talks.

And Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, said that if Jeremy Corbyn does not table a motion of no confidence in Mrs May by the end of the day he will.

He told a press conference in Westminster called by the anti Brexit campaign group Poole’s Vote, ‘If Jeremy can’t put himself in that position then we as leaders of other opposition parties must rise to that challenge.’

He added: ‘We are calling on European leaders to extend Article 50.’

And speaking in Dublin today, John Major said: ‘Whether you are a remainer or a leaver no-one can welcome chaos. We now need to revoke Article 50 with immediate effect…we need time.’

With MPs at war over Brexit and the PM’s deal on life support, many are warning the likelihood of a no deal has dramatically increased.

But many have warned that the Treasury has failed to pump enough money into preparing Britain services and borders to withstand a no deal Brexit.

Kent Council last week issued a damning report which warned that dead bodies could pile up in parts of Britain if the country crashes out of the EU with no Brexit deal.

The People’s Vote Campaign brought anti-Brexit MPs from across all political parties at a hastily-arranged press conference in Westminster today to demand another vote (pictured, left to right, Vince Cable, Caroline Lucas, Ian Blackford, Margaret Beckett, Liz Saville-Roberts, Anna Soubry)

SNP MP and the party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford (pictured at today’s People’s Vote event’ said Labour have until the end of the day to table the no confidence vote or they will

A series of dire warnings released today say the key ports of Dover and Folkestone could be plunged into six months of chaos unless a deal is done.

A report by Kent Council said the county could end up turning into a massive lorry park with up to 10,000 trucks stuck in gridlock if there is no agreement.

The congestion could mean schoolchildren miss crucial exams, rubbish is not collected from the streets, and vital services like hospitals are hit by staff shortages.

And there could be ‘prolonged disruption’ to the transport of goods – raising the spectre that Britain will be hit by food and medicines shortages.

While coroners ‘could face difficulties with the transport of the deceased to post mortem or body storage facilities’, the report found.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock wrote to pharmaceutical companies urging them to prepare for chaos at the Kent ports.

He urged them to stockpile drugs to prepare for the possible fall-out of crashing out with no deal.

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