Brexit: May orders squabbling cabinet to Chequers away-day to finalise withdrawal white paper

Warring cabinet ministers will be summoned to another Chequers “away day” when Theresa May will try to end bitter infighting on plans for Brexit.

The prime minister has confirmed that a detailed white paper – designed to give the UK the initiative in the troubled talks – has been shelved until next month, because of the disagreements.

She will now host a second lengthy lock-in at her country residence to try to enforce order, replicating the get-together when her Brexit strategy was on the rocks in February

On that occasion, No 10 trumpeted agreement on seeking “ambitious managed divergence” – only for Brussels to dismiss the plan as “pure illusion” less than 24 hours later.

Ms May faces daunting odds in trying to thrash out an agreement in July on future customs rules, with ministers as far apart as ever on two proposals.

But, speaking at the G7 summit in Canada, she insisted “people want us to get on with it and that’s exactly what we’re doing”.

The prime minister denied the timetable for a deal with the EU was slipping from October to the end of the year, because the cabinet was still negotiating with itself.

Instead, she said: “Next week, of course, we’re bringing the EU withdrawal bill, the lords amendments on the EU withdrawal bill back to the House and we’ll be dealing with those.

“After that, I’ll be going to the European council in June where I’ll be discussing, dealing with the final withdrawal agreement arrangements and also pressing the case for the negotiations on our future relationship.

“After that, we’ll be having another away day with ministers at Chequers where we’ll be finalizing our white paper for publication - and then, before we break for the summer in the Commons, we’ll be taking the other two bills that need to be addressed.

“There’s going to be a lot happening over the next few weeks. You know people want us to get on with it and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

In a leaked letter to Tory MPs, Ms May admitted her proposals to effectively stay in the EU customs union for many years - to avoid a hard border in Ireland - were “unpalatable”.

But, speaking to journalists, she insisted: “What we’re doing is working to develop that future relationship, because there’s a big prize for the UK here at the end of this.”

The white paper was due to be published before the two-day Brussels summit, starting on June 28, but is said to still be “riddled with red ink”.

The delay has been seized on as fresh evidence that the cabinet is fatally split on customs arrangements and how to avoid border checks in Ireland.

As well as customs, the white paper is also designed to cover long-term arrangements for security, financial services, aviation and fisheries – which are meant to be agreed in principle by October.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, was keen to publish before the summit, but was unable to convince the prime minister to demand cabinet consensus immediately.