Theresa May set to back technological solution for Irish backstop in the latest attempt to save her Brexit deal

HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock gave the clearest sign yet that Theresa May will back a plan to demand the EU removes the Irish backstop in a last attempt to save her Brexit deal.

He lavished praise on the “impulse” of a key proposal tabled by Tory rebels designed to unite the party.

The amendment - led by the powerful 1922 Tory committee boss Sir Graham Brady - proposes technological solutions to avoid the return of a hard border with Ireland instead of tying the UK to the EU’s customs union.

A growing number of Tories say they will back the PM’s deal if she succeeds with this plan - in what could give her the crucial breakthrough she needs to leave the EU on March 29.

If it wins the backing of a majority of MPs in tomorrow’s crunch set of Commons votes, it would send the PM back to Brussels later this week with a renewed mandate to negotiate.

But yesterday Ireland doubled down on its refusal to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, which would be necessary to change the backstop plans.

Ireland’s deputy PM Simon Coveney insisted the EU “will not ratify a Withdrawal Agreement that doesn’t have a backstop in it,” adding: “It’s as simple as that.”

“The backstop is already a compromise. It is a series of compromises.

“It was designed around British red lines."

The whole purpose of the backstop is to avoid a hard border, which risks being a consequence of a no-deal Brexit

Health Secretary Matt Hancock

But he then displayed signs Ireland has been rattled by internal EU wrangling over the backstop in recent days.

He told the Andrew Marr Show: “Ireland has the same position as the European Union now, I think, when we say that the backstop as part of the Withdrawal Agreement is part of a balanced package that isn’t going to change.”

On the same programme minutes later Mr Hancock suggested Mr Coveney was bluffing and denied Mrs May’s deal was “dead in the water”.

The Health Secretary said: “That’s a negotiating position the Irish are taking, but I think it’s also extremely clear from that interview and the tone is that Ireland doesn’t want to have a no-deal Brexit.

“The whole purpose of the backstop is to avoid a hard border, which risks being a consequence of a no-deal Brexit.

‘The idea the EU and the Irish Government would drive this process to a no-deal exit in order to try to achieve something which is intended to avoid no-deal Brexit, that is not going to happen.”

In a coded appeal to Tory Brexiteers to back Sir Graham’s plan to replace the backstop, Mr Hancock said his efforts at trying to find a solution were “extremely valuable”.

The backstop is already a compromise. It is a series of compromises. It was designed around British red lines.

Ireland’s deputy PM Simon Coveney

He told ITV News: “The impulse behind those who’ve supported the Brady amendment I entirely understand and we need to look for a pragmatic solution.”

And the Health boss said the Government was listening “very carefully” to those backing the amendment.

But the proposal is one of 14 amendments that have so far been tabled for tomorrow’s crunch Commons showdown, which was designed to find a Brexit plan that attracts a majority of support.

And it’s up to Speaker John Bercow which and how many amendments will get chosen to be voted on.

The Government is expected to ask MPs to cancel their week-long February holiday in order to pass crucial Brexit legislation in time for March 29.

And MPs will also be asked to sit for 12 hours a day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over the next two months.

PM's husband in No10 war over Brexit deal

Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that the PM’s husband Philip May has been dragged into the bitter No10 war over her Brexit deal.

Mrs May’s chief of staff Gavin Barwell reportedly accused him of trying to “scupper” attempts to reach out to Labour in their bid to find a Commons majority for her deal after Mr May helped persuade his wife that doing so would risk splitting the Tory party.

But No10 dismissed suggestions Mr Barwell had criticised Mr May as “utter bunkum”.

But sources in the hardline Brexiteer ERG group of Tory MPs said they were wary of backing the Brady amendment - because they don't believe the PM will reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.

The source said: "The problem is there is so little trust with the Government. It's the case over the last week that Julian has told senior ERG members that they'll reopen the Withdrawal Agreement. But there's no proof the that the EU are actually going to reopen it. Privately a lot of MPs are sceptical about what's going on. Things are quite fluid. But I'm worried No10 aren't going to come up with the goods and the ERG will be even more pissed off."

In another sign of a Tory truce emerging over Brexit last night, Boris Johnson said Mrs May would win his “full-throttled” support if she pledges to return to Brussels to renegotiate the backstop.

Writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column the former Foreign Secretary reveals that a “very senior source” has told him that the PM is planning to ask the EU for a “freedom clause” that would allow Britain to exit the hated Irish backstop unilaterally.

He said that if she wins that concession it will deliver “unadulterated good Brexit news” that will “defuse the booby trap” of the Irish backstop and pave the way for a Canada-style free trade deal to be struck with the EU.

But to gain his and his fellow Brexit rebels’ support he called on the PM to publicly reveal her plan today and reveal “exactly what the Government has asked for".

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