4 Daily Express Monday, September 2, 2019
DX1STTHE BATTLE TO BE
Back me or you’re
to get behind PM
and I’m sticking to it,” he said.
The archbishop said the citizens
assembly “should not be a
Trojan horse intended to delay or
prevent Brexit.”
He added: “In the past this
kind of gathering has...opened
the way for careful deliberation,
if at the right time and genuinely
representative.”
Britons must unite behind
a “vision for this country that
is outward-looking”, he said.
“The Church is one of those
institutions that can do that.”invitation from pro-Brussels MPs
for him to chair a “citizens’
assembly” designed to find a
solution to the Brexit row.
Mr Welby spoke of his stance
on Brexit in a question-and-
answer session last week
reported by the Church Times.
He said he was a “democrat”
who did not support the
campaign for a second vote.“Do
I know how we move forward?
No, I don’t, but I’m a democrat,Archbishop blasts Remoaners
ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury
Justin Welby has told
hard-line Remainers to “stop
whingeing” and accept the
referendum vote for Brexit, it
emerged yesterday.
The Church of England’s most
senior cleric, pictured, said
people who voted for the country
to stay in the EU must now “take
seriously the fact that the
majority voted Leave”.
He added: “We may not like it,
but that is democracy.”
His remarks follow anFROM PAGE ONEOutrage at EU
chief Barnier
over refusal to
axe backstop
MICHEL Barnier was last night accused of
being out of touch with EU leaders after
he flatly ruled out changing the terms of
the UK’s Brexit deal.
The chief EU Brexit negotiator yesterday
rejected Boris Johnson’s call for the
backstop measure for the Northern Irish
border to be scrapped.
But Downing Street officials said the
Brussels diplomat had been “left behind”
by other European leaders who had
indicated their willingness to find a fresh
solution to the issue.
Mr Barnier claimed that the backstop,
an insurance policy drafted to guarantee
no checks at the Northern Irish border that
could lead to the UK being indefinitely
locked in the EU’s customs union, was
the “maximum flexibility” the bloc
could offer.
His remarks in a newspaper interview
appeared to contradict signals from
German
Chancellor
Angela Merkel
and French
President
Emmanuel
Macron of their
readiness to listen
to British
concerns.
In response to
his article, a
Downing Street
spokeswoman
said: “We have
had a withdrawal agreement that has been
repeatedly rejected by Parliament. The
Prime Minister is clear he won’t be trying
that again.
“There is interest in having a new deal if
you listen to EU leaders. Barnier is being
left behind.”
Michael Gove, the Cabinet minister in
charge of planning for a possible no-deal
Brexit, yesterday pointed out that Mr
Barnier was restating the previous position
of the European Commission.
“He’s representing the commission’s
position and ultimately the commission
does as the member states decree,” Mr
Gove said in an interview on BBC1’s
Andrew Marr show yesterday.
“And with Emmanuel Macron and
Angela Merkel both having said that the
Withdrawal Agreement can change, we
have progress and that progress has come
about as the result of the Prime Minister’s
clarity on the question that we must leave
on October 31st.”
Mr Gove insisted Mr Johnson was
“making progress” in his push to secure a
renegotiated Withdrawal Agreement before
the country’s scheduled exit.
“I believe a majority of MPs in the
Commons this week will back the Prime
Minister because we know that the Prime
Minister is making progress with our
European friends and allies in attempting
to secure a deal,” Mr Gove said.
“And I don’t believe, as the Prime
Minister is making that progress, that
people will want to erect a roadblock in
his way.”Snub: Michel BarnierPicture: GAVIN ROGERS/PIXELbackstop to be scrapped. But Michael
Gove, the Cabinet minister in charge of
planning for a no-deal Brexit, last night
slapped down Mr Barnier and insisted Mr
Johnson was “making progress” in his bid
to secure a new deal.
A senior source from the whips office
told how they had been instructed to give
Tory MPs “a very simple message”.
The source said: “If they fail to vote
with the Government on Tuesday,
they will be destroying the Government’s
negotiating position and handing control of
Parliament to Jeremy Corbyn.
“Any Conservative MP who does this
will have the whip withdrawn and willcourteous, today’s behaviour shows this is
not a Government interested in compro-
mise. These MPs want proof that there
is a genuine and sincere attempt to get a
deal.
“The fact that the Prime Minister isn’t
even prepared to meet them suggests
there isn’t.”
Mr Johnson last night warned MPs that
any parliamentary skulduggery risked
undermining his final push for a revamped
Withdrawal Agreement that would allow
the UK to quit the EU with a deal.
It came as the EU’s chief Brexit negotia-
tor Michel Barnier rejected the Prime
Minister’s call for the controversial IrishBy Macer HallBy Macer Hall Political EditorDXYES: 0901 133 4440
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SP: Spoke, 0333 202 3390.Q
Should the Tory
rebels be booted
out of the party?
his readiness to cause parliamentary may-
hem and encourage more anti-Brexit
protests by vowing to do “everything
necessary” to frustrate the Prime Minister.
With MPs set to return to Westminster
tomorrow at the end of their summer
break, Mr Johnson will today warn Tory
rebels that their careers in the party will be
over if they side with Labour.
He was due to meet 21 MPs opposed to a
no-deal Brexit – including former chancel-
lor Philip Hammond and former justice
secretary David Gauke – at No10 today.
But after Mr Gauke told the BBC he was
prepared to lose the Tory whip by voting
against the Government, Downing Street
officials cancelled the summit, blaming
“diary pressures”.
A statement from the Tory rebels last
night said: “Aside from being deeply dis-source said: “He wants MPs to understand
it is their role to deliver Brexit and they
need to face up to it.”
Mr Johnson’s defiant warning came as
MPs in the cross-party “Remain alliance” –
led by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn –
finalised their strategy for tomorrow’s
Commons assault.
They are unhappy with the Prime
Minister’s decision to cut the current parlia-
mentary session short and push ahead with
leaving the EU with or without a deal on
October 31. Mr Corbyn yesterday signalledOn his bike...
Jeremy
Corbyn
heads for a
trip to the
shops
yesterday