May's Ministers Plot Softer Brexit to Keep U.K. in Single Market

[Denzil_DC]

Some of Theresa May’s most senior ministers are working to moderate her plans for a hard Brexit, even suggesting the U.K. could remain in Europe’s single market and customs union, as the prime minister fights to stay in power.

After her election gamble backfired, May is now so weak and reliant on the support of political rivals inside and outside her Conservative Party that she’ll be unable to force through her vision of a clean break with the European Union, according to three senior government officials. While she left her cabinet largely intact on Sunday, she brought back a pro-Brexit challenger for the party leadership, Michael Gove, and kept as her foreign minister Boris Johnson, another leader of the Brexit campaign whose first task was to reject reports he planned to make a bid for May’s job.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is said to be positioning himself as the chief advocate of a softer Brexit. He told May he would only agree to serve in her cabinet if she gave him more influence over the withdrawal negotiations, according to one person familiar with the matter who declined to be named citing confidential discussions.

A senior minister said the fact May intends to rely on Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party means she could be forced to keep Britain in the EU’s customs union, as well as the single market. Another minister said pro-European Tories would be emboldened to make the case for a softer deal with the EU that prioritizes the interests of businesses.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-11/may-s-ministers-plot-softer-brexit-to-keep-u-k-in-single-market

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I said this on another thread, but speaking as a committed and unapologetic Bremoaner/Saboteur, I think now would be a good time for the likes of Labour's John McDonnell to hold his wheesht on withdrawal from the single market.

[Voltaire2]

1. The EU cannot allow a "soft" exit.

If Britain gets to drop all its commitments and retain all the benefits everyone else will want the same deal.

[Denzil_DC]

2. Well, yes. The point is that a "soft(er)" brexit means the UK couldn't drop ALL its commitments.

And the compromises suggested in the article - especially the bugbear of freedom of movement - are why it's going to be a tough sell for those who assumed it was all done and dusted, and we were on our way out and that was it.

Eventually people will have to accept that just like there's no "magic money tree" (unless the government suddenly decides there is one to fund an idiotic project like brexit, for instance), you can't have your cake and eat it, no matter how big a tantrum you throw.

[Denzil_DC]

3. Meanwhile ...

EU threatens year-long delay in Brexit talks over UK's negotiating stance

Theresa May is to be told the EU will take a year to draft a new mandate for its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, effectively killing the Brexit negotiations, if she insists on discussing a future trade relationship at the same time as the UK’s divorce bill.

In a sign of growing impatience with the shambolic state of the British side of the talks, senior EU sources said that if London insisted on talking about a free trade deal before the issues of its divorce bill, citizens rights and the border in Ireland were sufficiently resolved, it would be met with a blunt response.

“If they don’t accept the phased negotiations then we will take a year to draw up a new set of negotiating guidelines for Barnier,” one senior EU diplomat said, adding that the EU could not understand Britain’s continued claim that it would be able to discuss trade and the divorce terms in parallel.

The EU’s 27 leaders formally agreed to give Barnier a narrow set of tasks at a summit in April and they have no intention of rethinking the so-called phased approach when they meet May at a European summit on 22-23 June.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/11/eu-threatens-year-long-delay-in-brexit-talks-over-uks-negotiating-stance

[Denzil_DC]

4. Tory and Labour MPs plot secret deal to ensure soft Brexit

Senior Cabinet ministers are engaged in secret talks with Labour MPs to secure cross-party backing for a soft Brexit, it has emerged.

Some of the most senior members of Theresa May's team have been discussing how to force the Prime Minister to make concessions on immigration, the customs union and the single market.

There have also been discussions of a cross-party Brexit Commission to agree common ground between the parties and ensure an orderly withdrawal from the EU.

Labour is expected to use the talks as leverage to demand an end to the public sector pay freeze among a series of concessions in next week’s Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/12/tory-labour-mps-plot-secret-deal-ensure-soft-brexit/
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Not so secret now, obviously. The Telegraph article's partially paywalled, but a spinoff article from the Business Times adds this detail:

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The MPs involved in the secret talks are believed to be "remainers" - those who backed staying in the EU - who had already forged alliances when they campaigned together in the lead-up to the referendum.

The daily newspaper also reported that Mrs May has been "aware" of the secret talks for days but that she has so far done nothing to stop them.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/uk-ministers-hold-secret-talks-with-labour-to-force-soft-brexit-media
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