A Treasury minister has admitted that rejection of Theresa May’s Chequers plan could trigger a second referendum and halt Brexit “altogether”.
Mel Stride blew the prime minister’s strategy – insisting “it’s my deal or no deal” and ruling out a fresh vote – out of the water, by acknowledging there are other options that could stop withdrawal.
He said: “I suspect those to the right of the party, the pro-Brexit wing, will be very concerned that – if that deal doesn’t prevail -– they’ll end up in a situation where we could have a second referendum and we could end up not leaving the EU altogether.
“There is a danger of that happening if Chequers doesn’t prevail”.
The comments make Mr Stride the first government minister to admit that a fresh Brexit referendum is on the cards if the prime minister’s deal is thrown out.
They appeared to be an attempt to put pressure on pro-Brexit Tories to accept the Chequers proposals, or risk seeing their dream of leaving the EU disappear completely.
However, the comments are a gift to MPs or campaigners who have insisted it is false to claim the UK faces a “binary” choice of Ms May’s deal or the damage from crashing out with no agreement at all.
Furthermore, they are a huge embarrassment to Ms May ahead of her arrival in Salzburg for crucial talks with other EU leaders, where she will insist they must compromise to avoid a no-deal.
Just hours earlier, in a newspaper article, the prime minister again tried to stamp on the “People’s Vote” campaign, insisting it would destroy trust in politicians to stage another referendum.
The Independent has launched its Final Say campaign, to give the British people the crucial decision on any Brexit deal, which is supported by more than 810,000 people who have signed our petition.
Now Mr Stride’s intervention will further undermine Ms May’s efforts to convince the EU that her no-deal threat is real, when most have already dismissed it as a bluff.
Most diplomats and officials are convinced it would “be bad for everyone, but it would be so much worse for Britain,” as one put it this week.
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, a supporter of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign, seized on the gaffe, saying: “This is one small step for the minister but a giant stride for our campaign to deliver a people's vote.
“After weeks of denying the obvious, a senior minister has let the cat out of the bag. The government know that if their deal is voted down the only way out of this mess is a people's vote.”
And Labour MP Alison McGovern, for the People’s Vote campaign, said: “This has changed everything. A minister has had the courage to tell the truth about the mess the government are in over Brexit and let the cat out of the bag.
“The Brexit elite are desperate to deny the people a voice on Brexit, but there is no stopping an idea whose time has come.”
The government’s strategy, usually kept for private conversations, is to twist the arms of Brexiteers with the risk of Brexit being stopped – and the arms of pro-EU Tories with the threat of no deal.
It was let slip by Mr Stride, who also referred to MPs on the “other end of the spectrum” and waqrned that Britain “could end up in a no-deal situation”.
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