Brexit: Conservative grandee Ken Clarke pledges to back Theresa May's EU deal in Commons

Former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke has said he will back Theresa May’s Brexit plans when they comes to a vote in the House of Commons.

Mr Clarke said the deal to be signed off at a Brussels summit this weekend was not ideal, but that it delivered continuity for business and lay ground for critical future trade negotiations with Europe.

His intervention will be seen both as a boost for Ms May – coming from one of the greatest critics of Brexit – and as proof for some eurosceptics that her proposals do not give the UK a clean enough break from the EU.

It comes as Ms May heads to Brussels to hammer out the final details of the political declaration on the outline of Britain’s future relations with the EU, to be approved on Sunday by the European Council along with the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Mr Clarke, seen as one of the most pro-EU MPs on the Tory benches, said: “I will vote for this deal.

“I think it’s, you know, it’s a bit of a dog’s breakfast. I think if she hadn’t made so many efforts to appease the really hardline eurosceptics in my party, she could have got a slightly better one.

“We could have just stayed in the single market and the customs union on the date of withdrawal before we go into the big negotiations on what the long term aim is.”

The ex-cabinet minister’s accepted however that the deal delivered certainty for business in the short term, something that the more liberal wing of Ms May’s party has demanded as a red line.

Speaking to Sky News, he added: “I’ll settle for this, it keeps the borders as they are, it keeps everything continuous for British business, industry and investment and it paves the way for the transition period, because the serious negotiations start now really, about what are the long term arrangements going to be, which will affect all our children and grandchildren.”

Mr Clarke’s support will buoy Ms May as she seeks the backing of her party ahead of a critical commons vote expected next month and could help persuade other remain-minded MPs to fall in behind the PM.

But hardline Brexiteers could see his support as a sign that the deal on the table does not pull the UK far enough out of the orbit of the EU’s singe market and customs union.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss also took to the airwaves to make the case for the deal, telling Tory MPs they face a choice between Ms May’s Brexit deal or not leaving the EU at all.

She told told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Emma Barnett Show: “If my colleagues in parliament don’t vote for this then we’re in grave danger of not leaving at all.

“I am very, very worried about what the alternative looks like, because I’m a democrat. I believe that people voted in good faith to leave the EU and we need to deliver that.”

Ms Truss said she was “confident we’ve got a good deal to send before Parliament”.

New pensions secretary Amber Rudd made a similar warning, saying that the commons would “stop no-deal” and if Ms May’s plans did not go through “anything could happen”.

The minister, a former Remain campaigner who replaced Leave-backing Esther McVey in the cabinet following her resignation last week, added: “The Brexiteers may lose their Brexit.”

Ms Rudd made clear that she expected MPs to rally behind Mrs May’s proposals, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think we are looking at another referendum.

“I think people will take a careful look over the abyss – MPs of all parties – and consider whether they think it is in the best interests of the whole country.

“I think the likelihood is, despite what people say, that the withdrawal agreement will get through.”

Ms May will meet European Commission President Mr Juncker in the late afternoon today. Brussels has indicated that the withdrawal agreement will not be rewritten as some Brexiteers want. Work is ongoing, however, to flesh out the political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship.