At the conference, British Prime Minister May confronts a party divided by Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) – Conservative British Prime Minister Theresa May has begun Saturday to meet for his annual conference, divided over his intention to leave the European Union, which threatens to derail an agreement.

Just six months before Britain left the European Union on March 29, 2019, May said that negotiations for the conclusion of a divorce agreement were at an impasse.

She said her "Checkers" proposals were the only viable option, but European leaders said some of their proposals were unacceptable and that many conservative legislators have threatened to vote against an agreement based on the May draft.

Uncertainty has made companies fear that there will be no agreement, which could lead to tariffs and delays at the border.

The Japanese automaker Toyota warned Saturday that leaving without an agreement would affect its production and that jobs would ultimately be threatened.

"Of course, we want an agreement," Secretary of State Greg Clark told BBC Radio that May and his bargaining team were determined to reach an agreement and that there was enough to be optimistic.

"That's why the next few weeks will be important to review each proposed problem to determine if there are residual concerns that negotiators have and with the cold head and recognizing the common interest in this area, solving them. one by one. a."

A summit of European leaders last week resulted in a brutal rejection of the May proposals, which they believe would fail to resolve the arguments concerning the land border of Northern Ireland, with the Republic of Ireland, points to an agreement.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Brexit British Secretary Dominic Raab said that the Irish question was used by some members of the European Commission "for political purposes", but was open to suggestions from the bloc.

"I think they want an agreement," he said. "We do not pretend that there are no other proposals to consider. But we need credible answers to the proposals we have presented or to credible alternatives, and we have not seen them yet. "

SHADOW BORIS

As conservative lawmakers and party members began arriving in Birmingham, central England, for a conference scheduled to begin Sunday, many said Checkers' plans were dead and they had to be torn apart.

Boris Johnson, a leading Brexit supporter and former foreign minister, who resigned, on Friday called for a free trade deal with the bloc, saying the current proposals would leave Britain in "forced vassalage" for the future. 39; EU.

Johnson, bookmakers' favorite to succeed May, refused to answer directly to find out if he would brush aside a leadership challenge.

While May and government ministers continue to express confidence in the possibility of a final Brexit deal, they also insisted that no deal would be better than a bad deal.

However, Toyota has become the latest high-profile company to warn that leaving the world's largest trading block without a commercial agreement could result in crippling costs and production in factories that rely on just-in-time delivery of dozens of thousands of components.

"If we leave the EU at the end of March, the supply chain will be affected and we will see production stop in our factory," said Marvin Cooke, general manager of the Toyota plant in Burnaston, which has produced 144,000 vehicles last year.

Earlier this week, other British automakers, including BMW, McLaren and Honda, said they have put in place contingency plans, such as EU model certification, reconfiguration of production schedules and storage. pieces.

Jaguar Land Rover [TAMOJL.UL]Britain's largest automaker warned it did not know if its plants would be able to run in six months.

"The additional burden of import and export costs would add ongoing costs to our business," said Cooke of Toyota. "It would reduce our competitiveness. Unfortunately, I think it would reduce the number of cars manufactured in the UK and cost jobs. "