On Brexit, the UK 'just wants us to get on with it', May chides rebels

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On Brexit, the UK 'just wants us to get on with it', May chides rebels

By Nick Miller

London: Theresa May says the British people “just want us to get on with it” and agree on a Brexit deal, at the end of a day of intense political pressure that saw several senior resignations from her Cabinet.

May told a press conference at Downing Street she “believes with every fibre of my being the course I have set out is the right one for our country”.

Despite growing rumours she could face a vote of no confidence from her party colleagues at any moment, May insisted she was “going to see this through”.

“Leadership is about making the right decisions, not taking the easy decision,” she said.

Thursday was an extraordinary day for May, the day after she had revealed the text of a Brexit deal agreed with European Union negotiators, setting out the terms of Britain leaving the EU and an outline of their future relationship, and won her cabinet's backing.

An anti-Brexit supporter holds a European flag by a banner across the street from the Houses of Parliament in London.

An anti-Brexit supporter holds a European flag by a banner across the street from the Houses of Parliament in London.Credit: AP

Pro-Brexit politicians immediately attacked provisions intended to safeguard the economy and protect the Good Friday peace agreement in Ireland, which would keep the UK subject to customs union and single market rules for an indefinite period of time after Brexit in March next year.

It began with the resignation of Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, the man in charge of the department supposedly delivering Brexit.

The deal “presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom,” Raab warned in his resignation letter on Thursday morning.

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Over the next couple of hours another cabinet minister resigned, plus two more ministers, two ministerial aides and the Conservative Party vice-chair.

Work and pensions minister Esther McVey said it was "obvious to everyone" that May's Brexit deal did not honour the result of the 2016 referendum, and did not meet the tests that May herself had set for a successful deal.

It would "bind the hands of not only this but future governments in pursuing genuine free trade policies," she said. "We wouldn't be taking back control, we would be handing over control to the EU.”

Sueller Braverman, Raab's deputy and under-secretary of state for Brexit, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, parliamentary private secretary in the department of education, joined the exodus.

May said at her press conference she did not “judge harshly” those who had considered the national interest but reached different conclusions to her.

Resigned: Dominic Raab, the Brexit minister.

Resigned: Dominic Raab, the Brexit minister.Credit: Bloomberg

“I am sorry they chose to leave the government and I thank them for their service,” she said. “But I believe with every fibre of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for the country.”

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gestures during a press conference inside 10 Downing Street.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gestures during a press conference inside 10 Downing Street.Credit: AP

Nobody had produced an alternative proposal that would deliver on the referendum and ensure no ‘hard’ border in Ireland, she said.

Her job had been to reach a deal with the EU and bring it back to the House of Commons for a vote.

In that vote, expected in early December, the deal is likely to be opposed by Labour, the Scottish National Party, the Northern Irish DUP, and many pro-Brexit MPs from her own party.

Pro-Brexit, Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Pro-Brexit, Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg.Credit: AP

However May did not concede it was a hopeless cause.

MPs, when it came to the vote, “will recognise the importance of delivering on the (referendum) vote of the British people” she said. “Their job is to look at the deal and consider the interests of their constituents.”

The keen cricket fan was asked if her team were a long way off getting the runs they needed, with batsmen dropping like flies.

“You might recall one of my cricket heroes was always Geoffrey Boycott,” she replied. “(He) stuck to it and he got the runs in the end.”

Theresa May listens to a question from reporters as she delivers a statement on the Brexit agreement during a news conference inside number 10 Downing Street in London.

Theresa May listens to a question from reporters as she delivers a statement on the Brexit agreement during a news conference inside number 10 Downing Street in London.Credit: Bloomberg

Boycott was a famously defensive batsman.

Earlier, May spent three hours addressing parliament, defending her deal to critics from all parties including her own. She took more than 100 questions, insisting that her deal was the only option that would deliver on the will of the British people, that there would be no new referendum and no extension of the negotiation time.

“The challenge for all of us in this House is to make choices not according to what we wish the world would be like, but the reality of the world that we see,” she said.

She was greeted by mocking laughter when she said her plan would provide for a "smooth, orderly" Brexit.

"Voting against a deal would take us all back to square one," she warned MPs who will have to vote on the deal in coming weeks.

"It would mean more uncertainty, more division, and a failure to deliver on the decision of the British people that we should leave the EU.

"If we get behind a deal, we can bring our country back together and seize the opportunities that lie ahead."

Pro-Brexit Conservative MPs left the chamber while May was still on her feet, for a meeting where they argued whether to move for a vote of no confidence in May’s party leadership.

Not all were in favour, with some preferring to bide their time: under party rules there must be 12 months between such challenges.

But prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg declared himself among those who wanted May’s leadership to end.

In a letter setting out his reasons he said the deal’s terms - especially on Northern Ireland and a future customs union with the EU - stood in “contradistinction” to the party’s long-held principles.

Asked who would make a better prime minister, Rees-Mogg suggested Boris Johnson and David Davis, insisting he didn’t want to be PM himself.

Rees-Mogg told reporters: “The deal risks Brexit because it is not a proper Brexit.”

He denied being involved in a coup against the PM, saying he was "working through the procedures of the Conservative Party" which was "entirely constitutional".

A leadership vote will be triggered if 48 MPs write letters requesting one.

At the time of writing, there were not yet enough Conservative MPs pushing for a leadership spill to force a vote.

The next step in the Brexit process is a vote of the other European Union member states' leaders, expected at a summit on November 25.

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