Ministers prepare to return to Brussels to fix hated Irish ‘backstop’ to win over MPs with fresh proposals
HOPES of a Brexit breakthrough rose last night as Ministers prepared to return to Brussels with new legal wording to fix the hated Irish ‘backstop’.
Sources said Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit secretary Steve Barclay will present Eurocrats with fresh proposals designed to reassure MPs in talks on Wednesday.
Lawyers from the UK and EU will pore over what changes could be made either to the Withdrawal Agreement itself or in the form of additional promises ahead of a crunch Commons Brexit vote next week.
Critically it means the Commission has accepted the possibility of legal tweaks.
The move came as Tory ‘Remain’ Ministers piled pressure on Theresa May yesterday by warning her up to 22 Ministers and aides could quit to try and block a No Deal in the February 27 vote.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Business Secretary Greg Clark urged her to publicly commit to extending Brexit negotiations if an agreement cannot be reached.
Speaking after talks in Brussels yesterday Mr Barclay said the indefinite nature of the backstop remained the “central issue of concern” for MPs.
Both he and Mr Cox raised it with the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in meetings.
Mr Cox, the Government’s top lawyer, also “shared his thinking in terms of the legal way forward” to break the deadlock.
The pair will return to this tomorrow in a desperate bid to find a form of words that can win over Tory Eurosceptics and the DUP.
The backstop is designed as an insurance policy to keep Britain tied to EU customs rules in the event a new trade isn't thrashed out.
Brussels boss Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday said the EU was “in God’s hands” over Brexit.
No one should doubt EU solidarity
Simon Coveney
He said the EU would not “oppose” a UK request to extend Article 50 but raised doubts talks could stretch beyond July, when MEPs will return after the European elections.
Mr Juncker said: “When it comes to Brexit, it is like being before the courts or on the high seas - we are in God’s hands.
Just hours earlier Ireland had appeared to rule out any fresh concessions on the backstop.
Deputy PM Simon Coveney said Dublin would not even accept “keyhole surgery” to the Withdrawal Agreement to help Theresa May’s deal pass Parliament.
And he vowed Ireland would not be “steamrolled” by Britain into accepting a compromise, insisting that “no one should doubt EU solidarity” with it.
Member States and the Commission and Council have privately indicated they are open to tweaking the deal.
Mr Coveney’s uncompromising remarks came just before the British team met with Mr the bloc’s chief negotiator.
Speaking in Brussels, the Irish deputy PM also said he was “frustrated” by Britain’s demands over the backstop.
He said: “I don’t think there’s any appetite across the EU to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement and to change the text.
“We should be looking at the future relationship declaration for change, if change is wanted or needed there.
The Withdrawal Agreement is result of such long negations that I don’t think there will be any room for amendments
Stef Blok
“We want to find ways of providing the reassurance and clarification the British PM needs to be able to sell that deal in Westminster.
“But that doesn’t involve reopening the Withdrawal Agreement. The asks of the British parliament and government have to be reasonable ones.”
He was backed up by his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok and the EU Commission, who said the Withdrawal Agreement won’t be reopened.
Mr Blok said: “The Withdrawal Agreement is result of such long negations that I don’t think there will be any room for amendments.
“The political declaration might offer space for this. We need clarity from the UK about what amendments would help them, then we have to decide if they are acceptable to the EU.”
Japan anger at UK's rush
JAPAN threatened to pull out of this week’s trade talks with Britain after UK ministers told them to hurry up with the negotiations.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Trade Secretary Liam Fox told their counterparts that “time was of the essence”.
Officials in Tokyo were annoyed and nearly scrapped talks, the Financial Times claims.
A Commission spokesman added: “We’re happy to revisit anything that would clarify the situation, without reopening the Withdrawal Agreement but helping our British partners to construct a majority in the House of Commons.”
But Mr Barnier has privately told Member States he believes getting new wording that allows Mr Cox to change his legal advice is key to getting the deal over the line.
One EU diplomat told The Sun: “Barnier sees Cox’s advice as crucial to getting wavering MPs on board. We’re approaching the last chance to save the deal.”
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