Good morning. Here’s your daily Politics Update:
May: oppose my deal and take Britain ‘back to square one’
Theresa May will make a case for her Brexit deal on Monday, telling the Commons that failing to support the deal will mean taking Britain “back to square one.”
After May met with EU leaders on Sunday, they gave their official backing to her deal, saying there was no alternative option, and warned that rejecting the deal on 12 December would mean facing a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.
On Monday, May will tell concerned MPs: “we can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move on to building a brighter future of opportunity and prosperity for all our people.
“Or this house can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one. It would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail.”
Will May have a TV debate with Corbyn?
Monday’s Daily Telegraph reported that Theresa May will seek to have a TV debate with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on her Brexit deal, as the highlight of her PR run to pitch her deal to the public, seeking the country’s backing ahead of the meaningful vote.
The paper reports that ‘insiders’ say that in the run up to the parliamentary vote on her deal, the prime minister likes the idea of having a ‘primetime Sunday-night TV debate’ with Corbyn.
A Labour spokesman has responded to the reports, saying: “Jeremy would relish a head-to-head debate with Theresa May about her botched Brexit deal and the future of our country.”
May received criticism during the 2017 general election, for her avoidance of any TV debate with Corbyn, leaving Amber Rudd to represent the Conservatives in a BBC debate.
May’s deal: What happens next?
Now that her Brexit deal has been approved by EU leaders, Theresa May will bring it back to parliament, where MPs will hold a ‘meaningful vote’ in favour of, or against the deal.
Parliament is currently expected to vote on the deal on 12 December.
Since the original announcement of the withdrawal agreement earlier this month, the prime minister has faced opposition to the deal from all sides, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) that props up her government, providing perhaps the biggest threat to the deal.
DUP leader Arlene Foster once again voiced her party’s opposition to the deal on Sunday, telling BBC’s Andrew Marr: “This deal does not allow us to take back control,”
Foster said that her party would wait to see what happened next before deciding whether to remove their support from Theresa May, adding: “We have to look to a better way, a third way.”
If all these players follow through on their intention to vote against May’s deal, it will be near-impossible for it to make it through Parliament. The coming days should provide some clarity as to whether the DUP and Tory Brexiteers will risk the consequences of pulling support from the PM.
Alongside the DUP, hardline Brexiters in the Conservative party provide the largest obstacle for May’s deal. Since the notion of keeping the UK in the customs union was announced earlier this year, May has faced criticism from those in her party who seek a clean break with Brussels – those MPs who would happily risk no-deal in order to torpedo her deal.
In addition to concerns from her party, and opposition parties in the Commons, Theresa May still faces the possibility of a vote of no-confidence from her MPs. However, it is not clear how many letters of no-confidence have been submitted to chairman Graham Brady, with 48 needed to officially begin a vote of confidence.
Macron warns UK will be trapped in customs union unless fishing access is granted
In the hours following the extraordinary summit on Sunday, EU’s 27 leaders have strongly backed May’s deal, with key leaders doubling down on their support.
French president Emmanuel Macron has taken a more cynical angle to all this. On Sunday Macron told reporters that the UK would be trapped in a customs union after Brexit unless the government offers EU fisherman access to British waters.
“We as 27 have a clear position on fair competition, on fish, on the subject of the EU’s regulatory autonomy, and that forms part of our lines for the future relationship talks,”
Macron said. “It is a lever, because it is in our mutual interest to have this future relationship. I can’t imagine that the desire of Theresa May or her supporters is to remain for the long term in a customs union, but to define a proper future relationship which resolves this problem.”
He added: “We will concentrate our efforts in order to obtain access to the British waters before the end of the transition period. And of course all of our fishermen will be protected.”
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