May wins ‘improvedʼ Brexit deal but it may not be enough for MPs | Politics | The Guardian 12/3/19

12/3/19 5(43

May wins ‘improved’ Brexit deal

but it may not be enough for MPs
British PM secures ‘legally binding changes’ in Strasbourg talks
with Jean-Claude Juncker

TheresaBoffey
Daniel May hasin called for MPs to “come together” to back her deal after claiming to have
Strasbourg
secured theand
legally binding changes parliament wanted to ensure the EU cannot trap the UK
Rowena
in Mason
the Irish in
backstop and a permanent customs union.
London
But
Tue 12within
Mar 2019minutes of the start of a late-night joint press conference in Strasbourg, those
words rang hollow, as Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, conceded
00.56 GMT
the EU had not agreed to the prime minister’s central demand.

Juncker told reporters that a freshly negotiated legal add-on to the Brexit deal, emphasising
the temporary nature of the Irish backstop, “complements the withdrawal agreement
without reopening it”.

He added that the new text was in “spirit and letter by letter” in accord with the EU’s
commitment to an insurance policy from which he has repeatedly insisted neither side
could unilaterally withdraw.

The commission president nevertheless rallied to May’s defence by warning MPs that
Brussels would not be offering any further “reassurances or clarifications”.

“In politics sometimes you get a second chance, it is what we do with this second chance
that counts because there there will be no third chance,” Juncker said. “There will be no
further interpretation of the interpretation. No further assurances on the reassurances if the
meaningful vote fails tomorrow.”

In an echo of the prime minister’s own warning to her Brexiter MPs, Juncker added: “Let us
speak crystal clear about the choice: it is this deal, or Brexit might not happen at all.”

Following the historic defeat of her deal by 230 votes in January, May had promised MPs
that she would secure a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop, a time-limit or its
replacement with an alternative arrangement, such as a technological fix.

Asked whether she had secured those objectives in her 11th-hour dash to Strasbourg for
talks with Juncker, May did not directly answer. “What we have secured is legally binding
changes which is exactly what parliament asked us to secure,” she said. “And what we have

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May wins ‘improvedʼ Brexit deal but it may not be enough for MPs | Politics | The Guardian 12/3/19 5(43

secured is very clearly that the backstop cannot be indefinite, cannot become permanent. It
is temporary if it is the case that we were ever to get into the backstop.”

The package unveiled by the two leaders involves three parts that Juncker said amounted to
“meaningful legal assurances”.

A joint interpretative instrument added to the withdrawal agreement reiterates language

already in the draft treaty that the EU could not seek to trap Britain in the backstop by failing
to negotiate a new trade deal in good faith.

An additional joint statement in the political declaration on the future trade deal further
commits both sides to work on developing new technologies at the border to be ready for
December 2020.

The final part – a unilateral statement by the UK – argues that there would be nothing to stop
Britain seeking to “disapply” the backstop if the EU did not act in good faith and
negotiations on an alternative had broken down.

However, there was immediate scepticism from the pro-Brexit European Research Group
(ERG) and from Labour over whether the changes would be enough to secure the backing of
the House of Commons.

Jeremy Corbyn said May’s “negotiations have failed” and he called on MPs to reject the deal.

“This evening’s agreement with the European Commission does not contain anything
approaching the changes Theresa May promised Parliament, and whipped her MPs to vote
for,” Corbyn said.

“Since her Brexit deal was so overwhelmingly rejected, the prime minister has recklessly
run down the clock, failed to effectively negotiate with the EU and refused to find common
ground for a deal Parliament could support.”

The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, cast doubt on whether the changes would
actually be legally binding, saying: “It sounds again that nothing has changed.”

He said: “If all that’s happening is to turn this letter into an interpretative tool for legal
purposes, I remind the house what the prime minister said on 14 January about this letter.

“She said she had been advised this letter would have legal force in international law. To
stand here today and say this is a significant change when she’s repeating what she said on
14 January is not going to take anyone here far.”

Speaking to the Commons shortly before the prime minster’s press conference, May’s de
facto deputy, David Lidington, would only say that Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general,
would consider his legal advice in light of the changes and publish an update on Tuesday
morning.

Steve Baker, an ERG member and former Brexit minister, told the BBC: “Even by the

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May wins ‘improvedʼ Brexit deal but it may not be enough for MPs | Politics | The Guardian 12/3/19 5(43

government’s own standards I think this falls very far short of what the government
whipped us to vote for.”

To secure backing for her deal, May will need to win over dozens of hardline Eurosceptics in
the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist party, whose refusal to back the original
agreement led to a record Commons defeat by more than 230 votes in January.

The leader of the Democratic Unionist party, Arlene Foster, whose MPs the prime minister
relies on to get legislation through parliament, said: “These publications need careful
analysis. We will be taking appropriate advice, scrutinising the text line by line and forming
our own judgement.”

Steve Baker, a leading figure in the ERG, said the government had put “a very good gloss on
something that falls short”. But he later added: “Now we have the outline of what has been
agreed, I look forward to the full text and the opinion of the team of lawyers we have set up
to advise us … it’s good to see rising enthusiasm and reference in legal text to the Malthouse
compromise.”

Other senior Eurosceptics, including the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, called for
the meaningful vote to be delayed to give MPs more time to consider how to vote.

Many Eurosceptic Conservatives are likely to follow the lead of the Democratic Unionists,
but Nigel Dodds, the DUP Westminster leader, would only say: “All of this will need to be
taken together and analysed very carefully.”

The government’s motion, due to be voted on by MPs on Tuesday, refers to a unilateral

declaration setting out the sovereign action the UK would take to ensure the backstop would
only be applied temporarily.

To guide the Eurosceptics, the deal was due to be examined by a committee of eight lawyers
in the ERG, including Sir Bill Cash and the former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab. The most
crucial figure is Dodds, as the leaders of pro-Brexit Tories, including Jacob Rees-Mogg and
Boris Johnson, are likely to be influenced by the DUP’s view on whether the backstop is
acceptable.

If the concessions are not deemed adequate, one plan being discussed in the ERG is to table
an amendment to May’s motion saying parliament’s approval would be conditional on
“alternative arrangements” being found to replace the Irish backstop. They would then ask
the government to support that amendment in return for them voting for May’s deal.

Others close to the ERG believe that the group will only agree to support May’s deal and
weaker concessions than they would like if she promises to name a date for her departure.

If the deal does not pass, MPs will be granted a vote on Wednesday on whether to proceed to
a no-deal Brexit on 29 March and another on Thursday on whether to extend article 50.

However, May could come back with another attempt at a meaningful vote at some point
over the course of the week, especially if she only loses by a narrow amount. This would
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May wins ‘improvedʼ Brexit deal but it may not be enough for MPs | Politics | The Guardian 12/3/19 5(43

probably have to involve some more incentives for Labour MPs, such as giving parliament
more control over the shape of the future relationship.

Some in the ERG are expected to hold out against the deal no matter what May comes back
with and do everything they can to nudge the UK towards a no-deal Brexit.

A leading cabinet source said there was increasing concern about the prospect of a no-deal
Brexit by accident – on 29 March or at the end of an extension period – if there was no
parliamentary majority for May’s agreement because time was running out to pass
legislation necessary to block one.

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