Government plans have been revised so often the final deal is now more confusing than ever. And today's vote of no confidence in the PM is not helping.
Prime Minister Theresa May had an impregnable ‘hard Brexit’ strategy. Or so she thought. But Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has been messy, and it’s only about to get worse.
After being amended a whopping 14 times by the Lords, May’s Brexit Bill is now set to return for a final time to the Commons. And while the date is yet to be announced, MPs from across the House are being relentlessly lobbied by both sides of the argument. And Brexit-sceptic voices seem to be winning.
It started with think tank Open Europe openly announcing its support for keeping certain aspects of the single market on Monday morning.
The group, which is run by one of Michael Gove’s closest allies, claimed that the trade in goods between Britain and the EU should remain as before.
In a preface to the think tank’s new report, Striking a Balance, A blueprint for the future UK-EU economic partnership, it’s argued that the single market “was a significant achievement of British EU membership.”
Henry Newman, director of Open Europe and one-time Gove advisor, said:
“Open Europe’s blueprint recognises that the UK is too big an economy to be a rule-taker in areas like financial services, while accepting that we can get a very good degree of access in goods by giving up a limited amount control.”
The report was also critical of Theresa May’s resolve, with the former chancellor Lord Lamont complaining in the paper’s foreword that the “Government has taken too long to set out its plans.”
“Not literally in the single market, we have alignment on goods’ rules and we would be able to participate in the single market on terms roughly similar to that of Switzerland or Ukraine” @HenryNewman “It would not involve freedom of movement” #bbcdp pic.twitter.com/p41fV1e2wB
— BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics (@daily_politics) June 4, 2018
The report was followed by further bad news for the PM.
According to a survey by Conservative Home, a forth of Tories want May to step down from her role immediately. And nearly half want her to resign before the next general election.
The Prime Minister’s popularity inside her own party had improved slightly since plummeting during January’s chaotic cabinet reshuffle. But ever-worsening Brexit negotiations and little clear leadership is resulting in a lack of confidence in the Tory leader. A total of 71% now think May should resign from her post between now and 2022.
And rank-and-file Tories are not alone. One of the party’s major donors, Crispin Odey, argued this weekend that no other than Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, should replace the PM.
Odey, who has gifted £50,000 to the Conservative Party prior to last year’s elections, told the Observer:
“There’s no point in voting for freedom if you don’t know what to do when you’re free. What is true is that you have a whole lot of people who didn’t want this to happen who are in charge of it happening.”
Gove has often been described as a ‘hard Brexiter’, but lost his leadership bid in 2016. Rumours he is orchestrating a coup against May have been circulating since February this year.
Could we be seeing a Tory leadership challenge before long? And if so, could it trigger another snap election?
How any of this could make Brexit a clearer, easier and more beneficial process for Britain, however, remains a mystery.
Joana Ramiro is a reporter for Left Foot Forward. You can follow her on Twitter for all sorts of rants here.
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