Theresa May faces Brexiteer backlash hours after ordering MPs to stop public dissent
PM restores cabinet collective responsibility as she faces down ministers and secures agreement on government's Brexit plan
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May faces a angry backlash from Conservative Eurosceptics after senior ministers agreed a Brexit policy that would effectively keep the UK in the EU single market for goods.
Anti-EU backbenchers refused to rule out triggering a leadership contest against the prime minister amid anger that she had convinced the cabinet to support a softer Brexit.
It comes as Ms May ordered her ministers to get behind the agreement, reached after a day of talks at her Chequers country retreat, or face being sacked.
Several Eurosceptic members of the cabinet reportedly criticised the proposals in private, but the prime minister made clear they would no longer be allowed to speak out in public.
The negotiating position agreed at Chequers would see the UK adopt a “common rulebook” with the EU on the trade of goods, with the UK agreeing to “ongoing harmonisation with EU rules” – a pledge that will anger Brexiteers, who want Britain to be free to set its own regulations.
They will also be concerned that it will mean the European Court of Justice (ECJ) continuing to have a say over UK trade, although the government insisted the court would no longer be able to dictate UK laws. Ms May has repeatedly promised that the jurisdiction of EU courts will end in the UK after Brexit.
In a sign of No 10’s toughening stance, the prime minister told cabinet ministers they face being sacked if they speak out against the plan agreed at Chequers.
Writing to Tory MPs, she said: “During the EU referendum campaign collective responsibility on EU policy was temporarily suspended. As we developed our policy on Brexit I have allowed cabinet colleagues to express their individual views.
“Agreement on this proposal marks the point where that is no longer the case and collective responsibility is now fully restored.”
But as Brexiteers began voicing their opposition, one anti-EU Tory, Andrea Jenkyns, suggested she could try to oust Ms May when the full details of the agreement are published next week.
Asked on Twitter if she would be willing to try to trigger a leadership contest, she said simply: “Awaiting the details.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the European Research Group (ERG) of anti-EU Conservatives, warned Ms May it was “crucially important” that she stick to her word.
Within minutes of the agreement being announced, Tory Eurosceptics were reportedly using the ERG WhatsApp group to criticise the plan and urge Mr Rees-Mogg to speak out against it.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “This will require legislation and if, when we get the detailed legislation, it turns out that it is a punishment Brexit, that it is keeping us in the European Union in all but name, I will stick to the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitments and will not vote for it.”
He said he would wait for the full details to see ”have the red lines been turned pink” but warned that the “common rulebook” could make “trade deals almost impossible”. Downing Street has already admitted the proposal could make a UK-US trade deal more difficult.
Mr Rees-Mogg said it was “possible that this deal is worse” than crashing out of the EU without an agreement.
He added: “As with eggs: an egg that is very softly boiled isn’t boiled at all. A very soft Brexit means that we haven’t left, we are simply a rule-taker. That is not something that this country voted for, it is not what the prime minister promised.
“The prime minister will, I’m sure, stick to her word – that is crucially important – but I will certainly stick to the Conservatives’ manifesto commitments and will not vote for something that doesn’t deliver Brexit.”
Michel Barnier says there is “serious divergence” between EU and Britain in Brexit talks.
Cabinet ministers, including some who had reportedly expressed concerns about the agreement, took to Twitter to back Ms May.
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, wrote: “As a passionate Brexiteer with huge optimism about future as a free trading nation, I agree with the PM that keeping the UK together is vital.
“Alignment on goods, with Parliament sovereign on each decision, free to trade, no more vast payments, ending free movement – good for UK.”
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