Theresa May attempted to salvage her threat of a no-deal Brexit today — hours after it was apparently blown out of the water by her own chief negotiator.
Ministers were sent out to insist that there would be no delay to the planned exit on March 29, and that the UK will crash out of the bloc unless MPs vote for her stalled deal.
However, Mrs May’s ultimatum appeared to have been torpedoed by unguarded remarks made by top civil servant Olly Robbins in a hotel bar in Brussels, in which he said he expected the EU to agree to delay Brexit.
Mr Robbins then reportedly said that MPs would be presented with a new ultimatum, this time of backing the May deal or else agreeing to a long extension of Article 50. “Extension is possible but if they don’t vote for the deal then the extension is a long one,” Mr Robbins said, according to ITV News.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay embarked on a round of morning media interviews to repair the damage. Asked if Mrs May was ready to seek a delay he replied: “No.”
“The Prime Minister has been very clear that we are committed to leaving on March 29,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today. However, listeners pointed out that fell short of ruling out a delay.
Mr Barclay said the EU may refuse to grant an extension even if requested. “There is no desire on the European side to see... an ‘extension in darkness’, where there is no clarity as to why we are extending,” he said. Treasury minister Mel Stride told Sky News that he believes an agreement will be struck but added: “A no deal is a possibility.”
Conservative party vice-chairman Chris Philp told BBC’s Newsnight: “What a civil servant might speculate in a bar after a few drinks is frankly not that important.”
The muddle fuelled the cross-party attempt by MPs to prevent a no-deal Brexit from happening by passing legislation to ensure the Government seeks a delay if its withdrawal agreement is rejected.
Former Tory chairwoman Dame Caroline Spelman welcomed a new draft Bill published by Labour MP Yvette Cooper that attempts to appease critics by leaving the question of how long a delay to be decided by the Government.
However, the Government could face a bruising vote tomorrow night. The European Research Group of anti-EU MPs said they may vote against a Government motion that acknowledges last month’s non-binding Commons vote against the principle of crashing out.
Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer said the alleged comments of Mr Robbins suggested Mrs May was running down the clock to put pressure on MPs.
A Government spokesman said: “We would not comment on alleged remarks from a private conversation which is said to have been overheard in a bar.”
