Today in Brexit: Theresa May faces her fractious Cabinet, but might find it harder than ever to keep them on side.
What's Happening?
Theresa May meets her Cabinet today as she tries to get them behind her final push to get a Brexit deal over the line. There could be fireworks.
The prime minister is considering proposing tighter customs ties with the European Union, Tim Ross reports. It's a bid to win Labour support for her beleaguered deal as it would reflect at least some of the opposition party's key demands. She is also considering making another big Brexit speech, according to a person familiar with the situation.
"We are discussing still amongst ourselves and with the opposition parties what people would want to see in the bill," International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Monday.
But even though May is planning a new vote on her Brexit plan in early June, the political focus has already moved on to the race to succeed her as Conservative Party leader. That means any new proposal is going to be a hard sell.
Pro-Brexit Cabinet ministers who are already setting out their leadership pitches could resign rather than sign up to a deal that they know will be unpopular with the grassroots supporters who will pick the next prime minister.
As polls show those members back a no-deal split, candidates are more interested in burnishing their no-deal credentials than signing up to another grubby compromise. The same goes for leadership hopefuls outside the Cabinet who will be asked to vote on the new plan in early June. She's asking politicians to make a long-term pragmatic choice in the middle of a populist campaign.
May agreed to set out a timetable for her departure after giving her deal one more shot. But firing the gun on the leadership race probably crushed any chances she ever had of pushing the deal over the line.
— Emma Ross-Thomas
Today's Must-Reads
- Brexit was about stemming the flow of foreign workers, but now robots are coming to take the jobs instead, Jess Shankleman reports
- Brexit purists beware: Boris Johnson might deliver a compromise BrWhat You Need to Know About the 2019 European Parliament Elections
- Want to get up to speed on the European elections? Here's a guide to this week's votes, and here's what it means for markets.
Brexit in Brief
Funding Inspection | The U.K. Electoral Commission said it will visit the offices of Nigel Farage's Brexit Party to review how it raises money, following a call for an investigation from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "If there's evidence that the law may have been broken, we will consider that in line with our Enforcement Policy," the watchdog said. The Brexit Party denies any breach of electoral rules.
Raab's Pitch | Dominic Raab, a former Brexit secretary who says the U.K. should be prepared to walk away from the EU without a deal, set out his pitch for the leadership on Monday with a call for a 5 percentage-point cut in the basic rate of income tax, the Telegraph reports.
See You in the Pub | Former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, another committed Brexiter, said she'll be "in a pub near you" as she tours the country in her bid to succeed May. "Our mission is to come up with ideas for a radical Conservative agenda," she said in a pitch for "Blue Collar Conservatism."
Hammond's Warning | Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond fights back against the no-dealers today, telling the Confederation of British Industry that he will continue to argue for a negotiated Brexit because "we have an absolute obligation to protect Britain's jobs, businesses and future prosperity."
BOE vs No-Deal | Ben Broadbent, the Bank of England's deputy governor, hit back at suggestions that a no-deal exit would at least bring certainty to business. "It would be wrong to conclude from this that the best thing for investment is to resolve this uncertainty as soon as you can, by any means necessary," he said. It would mean "projects that have so far been deferred are then simply canceled."
Angry Remainers | Pro-EU voters are just as angry as Brexit-backers who want to leave, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable told the BBC, "particularly young people who feel their future has been taken away from them on the basis of a very narrow majority." That's one thing Cable and arch-rival Nigel Farage can agree on: the Brexit Party leader criticized "radicalized" Remainers after being splattered with a (salted caramel and banana) milkshake in Newcastle on Monday.
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