BRITAIN is “closing in” on a Brexit deal with Brussels, Dominic Raab has suggested, as the Conservatives’ psychodrama continued with Ruth Davidson urging the hard-line Brexiteers to lay off Theresa May.
After a 30-minute phonecall with Michel Barnier on Friday, the Brexit Secretary delivered an upbeat message, saying: "While there remain some substantive differences we need to resolve, it is clear our teams are closing in on workable solutions to the outstanding issues in the Withdrawal Agreement and are having productive discussions in the right spirit on the future relationship.”
But Mr Raab’s optimistic tone came as a surprise to some EU diplomats with one noting: “In reality this is a matter of who blinks first. And we don’t think it is going to be the EU.”
Mr Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, took to Twitter to point out there was still an impasse, most notably on the Irish border issue.
“Useful dialogue w/@DominicRaab this morning on the progress our teams have made this week on the #Brexit WA. But substantive differences remain on the Protocol for IE/NI, governance and GIs. We are also continuing our discussions to find common ground on the future relationship.”
Meanwhile, Ms Davidson, called on the Brexiteers to pipe down and give the Prime Minister the space to deliver a deal.
“What I would say to a number of my colleagues who are making noises right now is let the woman do her job," declared the Scottish Conservative leader. "She's the Prime Minister of this country and she needs to have people quit the noises off and let her deliver in this really crucial moment in our country's history."
Tory grandee Lord Heseltine predicted Boris Johnson would become PM but made clear he doubted he would unite the Tory Party.
The former Deputy PM, who has been an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson, said while there was strong opposition to the former Foreign Secretary, he found it difficult to think that MPs would not choose him as one of the two candidates to succeed Mrs May to put before the party membership.
"And, if he gets before the activists, my guess is he will get the nomination…Does that unify the party? Does that solve Brexit?..Those are the key questions about achieving power and my doubts and reservations are very substantial."
In a speech in America, Mr Johnson said the last thing Britain wanted “now is for us, the Brits, to be sucked back by the tractor beam of Brussels”.
He added: “There is no point at all in us coming out of the EU only to remain effectively run by the EU. If you’re going to take back control, then take back control and use it for a purpose.”
On the Labour front, Emily Thornberry made clear her party was unlikely to back any Brexit deal Mrs May secured from Brussels.
In an interview with the FT, the Shadow Foreign Secretary said Labour would not vote for a "flimsy bit of paper" simply because the Government said the alternative was no-deal.
She dismissed the Chequers Plan as a "kind of half-in, half-out of the customs union," which would not work. "It's just full of red tape and it's going to cost us too much money. It's just nonsense."
Elsewhere, businesswoman Gina Miller launched a national campaign to "end the chaos" of Brexit by publishing "unspun facts" so people could decide for themselves what they wanted to happen next.
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