PM warned not to step back from red lines on Brexit deal

The prime minister is trying to find a compromise that will secure support from both wings of her Cabinet at a meeting tomorrow, but critics called for the government to maintain its red lines on leaving the single market and customs union.

A group of more than 40 Eurosceptic Tories met chief whip Julian Smith to air their concerns about the prospect of a soft Brexit which would restrict the UK’s freedom to diverge from EU rules in future.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) of pro-Brexit Tories, said: “I won’t be reassured until I know the details of what comes out on Friday, one way or the other.”

In an attempt to address concerns, Mrs May said at Prime Minister’s Questions the government would ensure “we are out of the customs union, that we are out of the single market, that we are out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, we are out of the Common Agricultural Policy, we are out of the Common Fisheries Policy, we bring an end to free movement, we take control of our borders, we have an independent trade policy”.

Her comments came after Mr Rees-Mogg hit out at reports suggesting the meeting of Cabinet ministers at Chequers would be asked to support close continued alignment on rules for goods and tariffs.

“It’s hard to think of a worse idea,” he told the BBC’s Daily Politics.

Adopting EU tariffs would be “abandoning the benefit of Brexit” and “a really foolish policy” because it would curtail the UK’s ability to strike its own trade deals.

Asked if he would be prepared to rebel if the Cabinet’s conclusions at Chequers were unacceptable to him, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “If the agreement from the Cabinet is that we will give the EU £39 billion merely on good faith of the EU’s negotiating a trade deal, I will vote against that. I don’t think I can be clearer than that.”

In a sign of the tensions within the Tory ranks, one MP said a meeting of the ERG on Tuesday night was the “angriest” he had ever been to “even stretching back to Maastricht” – referring to the bitter battles fought during John Major’s premiership.

The subsequent meeting with the chief whip was used by the ERG MPs to spell out their demands for the forthcoming White Paper, stressing that there must be no watering down of the position set out in the Conservative manifesto.

There was also widespread concern among the MPs about the role being played by Olly Robbins, the prime minister’s Europe advisor and the senior official involved in negotiations with Brussels.

And there were demands for a greater emphasis to be placed on preparing for a “no deal” Brexit.

Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns urged Cabinet Brexiteers to stand up for Leave voters – and referred to the jockeying for position to succeed Mrs May.

In a message on Twitter aimed at Mr Johnson, Mr Gove, Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom and Chris Grayling, she urged them to “show your steel on Friday”.

“We know some of you want to be the future party leader,” she said.

Eurosceptics fear the prime minister will set out plans for a soft Brexit in order to overcome the problems at the Irish border and ports across the UK if there were customs or regulatory barriers to trade.