Theresa May has risked infuriating Tory Brexiteers by telling her cabinet that the so-called Malthouse compromise will not replace the controversial Irish backstop in her Brexit deal.
The proposals, which seek to maintain a soft Irish border without trapping the UK in the backstop’s customs union, will instead form part of the next phase of negotiations on the future relationship, a cabinet source told HuffPost.
The revelation risks enraging Tory eurosceptics who want the prime minister to face down the EU and get the backstop removed from the Brexit deal entirely as the price for their vote.
The source said there was “positive language” at cabinet on the Malthouse compromise which suggested the plan, which relies on heavily technology to avoid a hard Irish border, is instead being looked at as a viable way of ensuring the backstop never comes into force.
But those talks will not be held until after the UK leaves the EU, suggesting May is narrowing down the options she will present to European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker in crunch talks to resolve the backstop issue on Wednesday.
The Malthouse compromise was one part of proposals being worked up by the PM, also including a time limit to the backstop or a unilateral exit mechanism for the UK.
Malthouse-backing MPs, which included both Remainers and Leavers, were invited in to Whitehall offices to discuss the plans with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and a team of civil servants, while Attorney General Geoffrey Cox worked on the other two proposals.
Cox’s work appears to have borne more results, as he is billed to give a major speech on the backstop later this week and has been travelling with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay for talks in Brussels
Downing Street refused to comment on the status of the Malthouse compromise in a regular briefing for reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
Instead May’s official spokesman pointed to a Department for Exiting the European statement issued late on Monday after the Barclay-Cox taks, which said the EU had “engaged seriously” with the Malthouse proposals but “expressed concerns about their viability to resolve the backstop”.
The statement said the UK and EU and agreed to “keep exploring” the Malthouse plans to ensure the backstop, which would come into force from 2021 if no trade deal was agreed, would ever need to be implemented.
