NOW OR NEVER
Brexit will only get SOFTER if PM’s deal doesn’t pass next week, Remainer Philip Hammond warns Tory rebels
The Chancellor claimed Parliament could now take control and water down Brexit
BREXIT will continue to get softer unless rebel MPs back Theresa May's deal within days, Philip Hammond warned today.
The Remainer Chancellor insisted Brexiteers "need to think again" or risk seeing the UK's EU exit massively watered down.
4
Today MPs are almost certain to vote for a delay to Brexit after last night's Commons chaos which saw them call for No Deal to be blocked.
Mrs May is planning to exploit the drama to bring her deal back to Parliament for a third time next week.
A number of Brexiteers are considering switching sides and supporting the Prime Minister - having already voted against her twice.
Mr Hammond warned the rebels that if they don't back the deal at the third time of asking, the Commons will seize control.
He suggested that a cross-party coalition of MPs would force through a softer Brexit - tying Britain to the EU's customs union and single market permanently.
The Chancellor told Sky News: "If it isn't the Prime Minister's deal, it is likely to be something that is much less to the taste of the hard Brexit wing of my party.
"Some colleagues will be thinking very hard about what the alternatives are."
Speaking to the BBC, he added: "If colleagues who voted against the deal think about where Parliament is going to take this, they need to think again."
4
Mr Hammond hinted that Attorney General Geoffrey Cox may end up changing his legal advice to help the DUP and European Research Group pile in before the deal.
This afternoon, the Commons will vote on whether to demand an extension to the Brexit process, stopping us from leaving on March 29.
The PM said last night that a "short technical extension" would be possible - but only if Parliament agreed to back the deal with a few weeks extra to put it into place.
She added that without a deal in place, any extension would drag on for months - forcing the UK to take part in European Parliament elections this summer.
4
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Tory Brexiteers are now clashing over whether to give in and back the deal.
ERG vice-chair Mark Francois pledged to stand firm, blasting: "I was in the army, I wasn't trained to lose."
But fellow backbencher Richard Benyon hit back: "When I was in the army I was trained to know when I was in an impossible position it’s good tactics to retreat and work with other units on better ground."
4
Jacob Rees-Mogg warns there will be a No Deal Brexit unless the UK does not leave the EU as planned on 29 March and is granted an extension
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online politics team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours
Topics