May faces Brexit showdown, seeks ministers’ backing

Bloomberg

Theresa May faces a showdown with her cabinet on Tuesday as she seeks their backing for one last push for her divorce deal with the European Union.
Pro-Brexit ministers and those looking to succeed May as prime minister are expected to lead objections as they debate proposals to make the agreement more attractive to the opposition Labour Party, potentially including a much tighter customs relationship with the bloc.
May said she will put the Withdrawal Agreement Bill — which enshrines the Brexit deal into law — to a vote in Parliament in the week of
June 3 and is trying to find a way to get it passed. Formal talks with Labour broke down, but she is seeking to win over enough of the party’s lawmakers to get her deal over the line. Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, a leading Brexiter, said May will set out “reassuring” alternative arrangements to tackle the issue of the Irish backstop.
The failure of the talks and May’s pledge to set a timetable for her departure increases the risk of a no-deal split from the European Union as Tory MPs jockey to succeed her.
To lead the party they will need the support of party members, 66 percent of whom support leaving the bloc without an agreement while only 27 percent back May’s deal, according to a YouGov survey of 858 Tory members between May 10 and 16.
The pound fell more than 2 percent as May announced she would set a timetable for her departure and it appeared her successor would be likely to push for a harder split from the EU. It dropped 0.3 percent against the dollar in early trading on Tuesday.
Brexiteer Boris Johnson, a pivotal figure in the 2016 referendum campaign, is the current favourite to replace May, and polls show he would win a vote among party members. But first the former foreign secretary, who wants a quick, hard Brexit, will have to secure the backing of MPs to be one of the two candidates voted on by rank-and-file party members.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will use a speech to attack those on the “populist right” pushing for a no-deal split from the EU. Leadership front-runners Johnson and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab have both said they would be prepared to leave without an agreement or grace period.