[ad_1]
Theresa May will test the tolerance of her cabinet for fresh Brexit compromises on Tuesday, with Britain's negotiators desperate for a breakthrough in time to convince EU leaders to agree to crunch summit next month.
With no European council formally scheduled until December, the ministers are becoming increasingly critical of the growing risk of a failure to reach a deal and the impact of continuing uncertainty on the economy.
"Everyone's still hoping for November," said one senior Whitehall source. The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the BBC that the government was "four weeks before the deadline that's been talked about".
The Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab, has told the firm that they are not going to be in their hands.
Ministers fear that businesses and financial markets will be able to make a decision on the future, weighing on the pound and creating an unstable economic backdrop to the talks.
Much of Tuesday's cabinet meeting is to be devoted to Brexit. The prime minister will update colleagues on this week 's European council in Brussels, where she floated the idea of extending the transition period – during which the UK would have to stay with the EU.
But the sticking points remain the same as they were broken down last Sunday – and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, stressed on Friday that the obstacle to agreement was what he called the "complex" politics in Westminster.
Asked whether a deal was still possible, Barnier told France Inter radio: "I have no deep conviction on this subject, because in the UK the political situation is very complex and I do not know what decisions Theresa May will take. I hope for a deal; I am working for it, because it is in our common interest. "
May be able to test the wriggle room her cabinet is prepared to give negotiators over the next fortnight.
Government insiders remain hopeful they can persuade EU leaders to give back to the country.
Hunt reiterated on Friday that the government would not accept any proposal that "means the potential breakup of the United Kingdom".
Yet senior Brussels sources remain insistent that the EU backstop, which implements Northern Ireland alone, remains in the final text.
Several ministers, including Hunt, Andrea Leadsom, and Michael Gove are in the process of being able to write to the text to the extent that they are impossible.
Hunt said: "There is a way that we can get away from it, and that has a sovereign decision of the UK parliament. What is not acceptable that we could be indefinitely in the customs union. "
The idea of extending the transition to pizza in Leadsom's office on Monday night.
But it infuriated some backbenchers and prompted a warning from the Scottish secretary, David Mundell, who was concerned it could mean the UK still being inside the common fisheries policy at the time of the Holyrood elections in May 2021.
Outside the cabinet, May faces a growing backlash from MPs concerned about the UK's future trading relationship with the EU. Downing Street is on the future of the "future framework", but admits that only headings have been agreed, with just a few weeks left to go.
Matthew Pennycook, Minister of Commerce, said: "Businesses and communities across the country are crying out for clarity about what will be our future relationship with the EU will look like after Brexit.
"If the government's deadline for reaching a deal with the EU, then we face the very real risk of making business deals and taking out of the UK. We can not have any more failed summits and missed deadlines. The Tories have got to get a grip. "
If a deal is delayed until the next formal summit in December, the government may be in the process of moving forward.
Senior Conservatives warn that if the deal is to pass through the House of Commons, may be pivotal to the cautious approach.
Meanwhile, Lord Armstrong, Lord Butler and Lord O'Donnell, have hit back at Brexiters, accusing them of undermining the civil service with their constant attacks, particularly on the advice of Olly Robbins. O'Donnell told the Times the way to strike has been attacked by our own officials.
Source link
