Theresa May says the UK must ‘hold our nerve’ in Brexit talks amid rumours of leadership plots
Theresa May told her warring party it was time to “hold our nerve” in the Brexit talks as she once again hit out at a Brussels plan to siphon off Northern Ireland.
Speaking in the Commons after yet another weekend dominated by claims her time as Prime Minister is almost up, May urged her MPs to focus on the national interest.
The PM came back empty-handed from an EU summit in Brussels last week with the Brexit talks in a state of deadlock over how to guarantee no hard border on the island of Ireland.
May tried to strike an upbeat tone as she updated MPs on the summit, claiming tthe EU had made a substantial shift towards the UK’s version of the so-called backstop – adding that 95 per cent of the Brexit withdrawal agreement had been agreed.
The Tory leader set out four steps the UK and Brussels need to take to get a deal, including negotiating a temporary UK-EU customs agreement if the future trade deal is not ready to go when the transition period ends in December 2020.
She also said extending the transition period could be an option as another backstop plan.
Addressing MPs, May said: “The Brexit talks are not about my interests. They are about the national interest – and the interests of the whole of our United Kingdom.
“Serving our national interest will demand that we hold our nerve through these last stages of the negotiations, the hardest part of all.”
In a reference to the hundreds of thousands who marched through London on Saturday calling for another EU referendum, May said: “It will mean not giving in to those who want to stop Brexit with a politicians vote – politicians telling the people they got it wrong the first time and should try again.”
Her statement came just hours after arch-Brexiteer Steve Baker scrapped an attempt make a Brussels plan to keep Northern Ireland in the EU’s customs union after Brexit illegal under UK law.
The former Brexit minister pulled his amendments to a Bill set to be voted on on Wednesday, prompting rumours a deal had been done with Downing Street.
A Number 10 source said he was “not aware of any conversations” between Baker and the Government which would have led to the amendments being withdrawn.
During the statement MPs from all sides spoke out against the use of aggressive language against May by unnamed Tories over the weekend, with one quoted as saying: “The moment is coming when the knife gets heated, stuck in her front and twisted. She’ll be dead soon.”
May did not address the quote directly, but said: “It is incumbent on all of us in public life to be careful about the language we use.”