Euroskeptics

Tory Euroskeptics signal shift toward Theresa May’s Brexit deal

Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson among those who appear to be warming to the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement.

By JACK BLANCHARD

Several Tory arch-Euroskeptic MPs have signaled a shift toward U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement ahead of Wednesday's House of Commons votes on a series of alternative Brexit plans.

European Research Group leader Jacob Rees-Mogg issued a front-page apology for his U-turn in the Daily Mail, confirming he will vote for May's deal if the Democratic Unionist Party also comes on board.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who quit the government to vote against May's deal last year, also appears ready to switch sides. He said during a Daily Telegraph event Tuesday that he was “not there yet” but admitted: “If we vote it down again, for the third time, there is now I think an appreciable risk that we will not leave at all.” Johnson hinted the price for his support of May's deal is the PM's resignation. “If people like me are to support this deal … then we need to see the proof that the second phase of negotiations will be different from the first,” he said.

The Telegraph also reported former Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale has decided to back the deal rather than risk the U.K. remaining in the EU. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, seen as a key figure in Brexiteer circles, is also expected to back May's deal, according to the paper, and is talking to other MPs to convince them to do likewise. Speaking at a Times event last night, Duncan Smith wouldn't say how he will vote, but noted: “There is a pretty good chance the deal is going to get through.” He also said “it would help some” of his ERG colleagues to back the deal if May offered to quit, adding: “Sooner [rather than later] is definitely on the cards.”

The hard Brexiteers appear to be coming around to the PM's deal after MPs in Westminster voted earlier this week to wrestle control of the parliamentary timetable from the government to debate a series of alternative Brexit plans. The success of Conservative MP Oliver Letwin's amendment cleared the way for MPs to bring forward their own Brexit motions and indicative votes Wednesday.