Theresa May unveils 'last chance' new Brexit plan including possible Commons vote on second referendum

Theresa May today unveiled her “last chance” ten-point new Brexit plan but Tory and Labour MPs immediately vowed to torpedo it.

In a move likely to anger Brexiteers, the Prime Minister said it would be left to Parliament to decide what type of customs arrangements the UK would have in the future with the EU.

MPs would also get a vote on a second referendum under the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB).

However, even as she was still halfway through delivering her new blueprint, Tory MPs were announcing they would oppose the proposals which are said to have sparked an “absolute bun fight” at Cabinet this morning.

Mrs May delivers a speech in London on Tuesday (AP)
Mrs May delivers a speech in London on Tuesday (AP)

Brexiteer Simon Clarke, tweeted: “This speech from the PM means there is no way I will support the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.”

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith MP later said: “There’s nothing new or bold about this bad buffet of non-Brexit options.”

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said: “I supported the PM’s rotten deal last time as I felt we could then draw a line and select a new PM to pick up the pieces. But I cannot support this convoluted mess...The PM must go.”

Earlier in the day, several other Tory backbenchers, who also backed Mrs May in the third vote on her plan in March, signalled they would now oppose it.

Mrs May appealed to MPs to back her 'new deal' (AP)
Mrs May appealed to MPs to back her 'new deal' (AP)

With her departure from No10 now looming, her proposed deal looked highly unlikely to get through the Commons as Jeremy Corbyn has made clear Labour will vote against it.

Mrs May’s tens Withdrawal Agreement Bill pledges were:

  • A vote for MPs on whether the deal should be subject to a referendum.

  • MPs will decide on Britain’s future customs ties with the EU, amid reports of a row in Cabinet on this issue.

  • The UK will seek as close to frictionless trade in goods with the EU as possible while outside the single market and ending free movement.

  • The Government will seek to conclude “alternative arrangements”, using technology, to replace the Northern Ireland border “backstop” by December 2020, so that it never needs to be used.

  • Should the backstop come into force, the Government will ensure that Great Britain will stay aligned with Northern Ireland.

  • Negotiating objectives and final treaties for the UK’s future relationship with the EU will have to be approved by MPs.

  • A new Workers Rights Bill to ensure UK workers enjoy rights that are “every bit as good as, or better” than those provided for by EU rules.

  • No change in the level of environmental protection due to Brexit.

  • Keeping up to date with EU rules for goods and agri-food products that are relevant to checks at borders.

  • A legal duty to secure changes to the political declaration to reflect this new deal.

In a speech in central London after a Cabinet meeting lasting nearly three hours, Mrs May said: “The majority of MPs say they want to deliver the result of the referendum...and I believe there is now one last chance to do that.”

She stressed that she had “offered to give up the job I love earlier than I would like” to try to get her Brexit plan agreed.

She is due to meet the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, Sir Graham Brady, after her attempt in early June to get the WAB’s 2nd Reading through Parliament, to discuss a timetable for her to leave No10.

Mrs May said the Government had offered a “compromise option” of a temporary customs union on goods, including a UK say in relevant EU trade policy and an ability to change the arrangement, so a future government could move it in its “preferred direction”.

Labour wanted a “comprehensive” customs union.

“We were not able to agree this as part of our cross-party talks – so it is right that Parliament should have the opportunity to resolve this during the passage of the Bill and decide between the government’s proposal and a compromise option,” she added.

The bill would include “at introduction” a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum before the Withdrawal Agreement can be ratified.

Mrs May argued: “If MPs vote against the Second Reading of this Bill – they are voting to stop Brexit.

“If they do so, the consequences could hardly be greater.”

She suggested it could be no deal, a General Election or a second referendum.

Labour MP Peter Kyle, who alongside fellow MP Phil Wilson pushed for a confirmatory vote, said: “: “Kyle-Wilson was offered to her as a clean, simple confirmatory public ballot on her deal. After an eye-roll, the prime minister promised a strange, complex, Commons process. This is not leadership and not good enough."