Theresa May to hold 'no deal' crisis talks as Brexiteers turn up the pressure
4 min read
Theresa May will gather her warring Cabinet ministers for crisis talks next month as Britain faces crashing out of the European Union without a deal.
Amid open splits at the top of Government over Whitehall's preparations for a 'no deal' Brexit, the Prime Minister has reportedly told ministers to clear their diaries for a September 13 cabinet summit on planning for such an exit.
Mrs May is under mounting pressure from hardline eurosceptics in the Conservative party after chancellor Philip Hammond painted a dire picture of the economic effects of a 'no deal' Brexit.
His warning of an £80bn black hole in the public finances stood in stark contrast to reassurances from Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab about the UK's ability to cope with such a scenario.
According to the Sunday Times, the crisis talks will act as a "stock take" of Whitehall's preparations for Britain leaving the EU without a deal, amid claims from some officials that pro-Remain Cabinet ministers are "dragging their feet" in getting ready for 'no deal'.
"The meeting is needed to work out once and for all if we can survive a no-deal scenario," a Whitehall source told the paper.
"Some departments are better prepared than others; we urgently have to get the money where it is needed. The meeting will decide what gets spent where."
MAY FACING CONFERENCE 'HUMILIATION'
News of the upcoming summit came as Brexiteer Tory MPs upped the pressure on Mrs May ahead of the Conservative Party Conference in late September, and as Mr Raab, the Brexit Secretary, openly cast doubt on the Treasury's predictions of the toll 'no deal' will take on public spending.
He told the paper: "I’m always chary of any forecast because most of them have been proved to be wrong."
Eurosceptic Tory MP Andrew Bridgen meanwhile warned that Mrs May's standing was at an "all time low" with Conservative activists in the wake of her controversial Chequers plan for leaving the EU - and predicted the Prime Minister could face being "booed" at the party's annual gathering.
The arch-Brexiteer MP told the Mail on Sunday: "All right-minded colleagues should put in no-confidence letters now to force out Mrs May.
"If she somehow manages to cling on, then at the Conservative conference she faces the prospect of real humiliation when she meets the party faithful."
He added: "She could be the first sitting Tory Prime Minister I can remember who faces a slow-handclap during her speech or doesn’t get a standing ovation at the end of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was even booed."
NO DEAL AN 'EXISTENTIAL THREAT' TO UK
Warnings about the potentially dire consequences of a 'no deal' Brexit continued to mount, however, with former European Council President Herman Van Rompuy adding his voice to those cautioning about a possible break-up of the United Kingdom.
The ex-Belgian Prime Minister told the Observer: "The no-deal issue is not just a problem for the UK or Brussels.
"It is also an existential threat to the UK itself. One can imagine that a no deal will have a big impact and cause concern in some of the regions.
"Speaking of Scotland, it could have consequences for them and others."
He added: "We could end up with a situation in which the EU27 becomes more united and a United Kingdom less united.
"This talk about a ‘no deal’ is the kind of nationalist rhetoric that belongs to another era."
The intervention from the former Brussels heavyweight echoes Scottish First Minister's Nicola Sturgeon's own warning last week that a 'no deal' Brexit would be an "unmitigated disaster" for Scotland.
She said the fact ministers were now openly discussing such an outcome was "evidence of their abject failure".
Ms Sturgeon added: "That they once had the nerve to tell us that independence threatened our place in Europe adds insult to injury. Scotland deserves better."
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