Theresa May’s future - and Brexit's - hangs in the balance following yesterday’s announcement of the draft Brexit deal. The 585-page draft document, which, in fairness, has loads of empty space in it, and could probably fit on about 200 pages, sets out what has been negotiated with the EU over ‘thousands of hours’.
May has admitted ‘it was not the final deal, it is a draft treaty which proves we will leave the EU in a smooth and orderly way in 2019 …it takes back control of of borders laws and money’
After a five hours-long cabinet meeting, the sense was, yes there had been disagreements between ministers and May, but they were united in their mission to push the deal through.
However, this morning, a junior minister for Northern Ireland, Shaliest Vara, quit first, followed by Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, and Raab’s junior, Suella Braverman.
The result is a prominent and destabilising lack of support for May’s Brexit deal even within her cabinet.
Jeremy Corbyn has said the deal ‘does not meet our six tests’ of what a good Brexit should look like, and will soon announce to his MPs which way they should vote on May’s deal. The DUP - the Northern Irish party who have made a power-sharing deal with the Conservatives, in order to prop up May’s minority government - has trashed it. Nicola Sturgeon, who heads up the SNP has also said the Brexit deal is bad. And the Lib Dems, who’ve long lobbied for a People’s Vote on the Brexit plans, still really, really want the people to have a say over the UK’s future now they know what it might look like.
In short, MPs from across the house have declared that May’s proposed deal has united the country in its shared revulsion for the deal. Brexiteers don’t think it’s Brexity enough, Remainers don’t think it’s Remainy enough. Whether the deal is voted through Parliament is yet to be seen, with Labour’s decision - itself split along messy lines we’re still getting our head around - effectively able to swing this, from one chaos to another, it seems.
With May being given the poisoned chalice of joining a country that was split pretty much down the middle thanks to a referendum that was tainted by, well, too many people not knowing what they were voting for, and even more treating it as a protest vote, it’s pretty unsurprising that
no resigning minister has suggested their rendition of how things should go down if they had their way.
Meanwhile, EU President Donald Tusk has said that Brexit was only ever going to be ‘lose-lose’, and about ‘damage control’.
Fears that Penny Mourdant, the Women and Equalities minister, would quit, making it such that there would have been five ministers in the role within the space of two and a half years, have been quelled by her presence at the Women and Equalities questions this morning.
More news as we get it.
Update: another minister, Ranil Jayawardena, has resigned.
Another update: Jacob Rees-Mogg has submitted to the 1922 Committee a letter of no confidence in May. If 15% of Conservative MPs (that's just 48 Tory MPs) do this, all Tory MPs would be required to cast a secret ballot as to whether they think May should stay on as leader of the party or not. Number 10 says she has no plans to leave, and the next general election is slated for 2022.