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As it happenedended

Brexit - as it happened: Tories turn on 'insolent' Rees-Mogg after Brexiteer threatens open revolt against May

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Lizzy Buchan
Political Correspondent
,Ashley Cowburn
Monday 02 July 2018 11:10 EDT
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What is still needed to complete a deal with the EU?

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Theresa May has been mocked for failing to secure unity within her own cabinet on Brexit as Tory infighting spilled out into the open ahead of a crunch meeting on Friday.

Jeremy Corbyn questioned how Ms May could get a Brexit deal if she could not get her ministers in line, and warned that cabinet infighting was having a "debilitating effect" on jobs and business.

It comes as senior Tories piled in to criticise Jacob Rees-Mogg for "insolence" after the leading Eurosceptic fired off a warning over Ms May's Brexit strategy.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group of pro-Brexit backbench Tories, said she must deliver the Brexit she promised or risk collapsing the government, ahead of crunch cabinet talks at her Chequers retreat on Friday.

Foreign office minister Alan Duncan accused him of "insolence" towards the prime minister, while Alistair Burt, another FCO minister, tweeted: "Enough. Just tired of this endless threat and counter threat. Why don’t we want the best for the U.K. than for our own ideological cliques?"

His comments also attracted criticism from respected backbenchers, such as health committee chair Sarah Wollaston and Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames, who told his Tory colleague to "shut up".

Political journalists watching from the press gallery note that the government benches are rather sparsely populated by MPs.

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 16:52

Onto Brexit, May says there are 'differences' between the UK and the EU over the Irish border but she vows to ensure there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland.

She says the UK must 'accelerate' the pace of negotiations, and she told EU leaders that parliament would not support a deal without more clarity on the future relationship.

PM says the white paper on the future relationship will be published next week.

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 16:55

Jeremy Corbyn says its laughable that she has so little reference to Brexit in her statement.

'We have been waiting over two years for clarity on the future relationship with the EU,' says Corbyn.

On migration, he warns about the surge of far right rhetoric and urges the PM to stand up for humanitarian values. He calls on her to defy those who use suffering to disseminate a message of hate.

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 16:58

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 16:58

Cabinet infighting is having a 'debilitating effect' on this country and is affecting jobs and communities, Corbyn says.

He says he doesn't envy her Chequers sleepover, where her ministers will be warring over their own interests.

Corbyn says there is no argument to reject a customs union and says even the NHS is having to make contingency plans because of the lack of clarity.

'Where are these flexible and imaginative solutions' on Northern Ireland, he said.

How can she get a deal for Brexit if she cannot get a deal with her own cabinet, he asks.

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 16:59

May dismisses his concerns, saying she is 'right on schedule' and Labour are only focused on trying to thwart Brexit.

She says: "I am very clear. I have picked the side of the British people."

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 17:03

Bill Cash, an arch Tory Brexiteer, congratulates the PM on the passing of the EU Withdrawal Bill, the government's flagship Brexit bill.

He says there are "disturbing reports" about May taking the UK back into some form of EEA and asks her to clarify.

May rules it out. She said the EU leaders asked if it was on the table but she has vowed that she would not deliver on the referendum or the vote of British people

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 17:17

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 17:17

DUP's Nigel Dodds says the UK will need 'legal certainty' before it could vote the divorce bill through.

May says he makes a good point and that's why she has been clear that MPs would need 'sufficient detail' to vote on the issue.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Eurosceptic Tory MP, asks if the UK will still be subject to the common external tariff.

May says her backstop plan would keep the UK subject to the tariff but she hopes not to use it.

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 17:21

Nicky Morgan, the former cabinet minister, says the PM should ignore red lines from Brexiteers like Mr Mogg and John Redwood, and instead seek a "pragmatic, sensible and flexible Brexit".

Lizzy Buchan2 July 2018 17:30

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