'STICK to her guns!' Lord Lawson urges May to STAND FIRM on her no-deal Brexit promise
THERESA MAY has been urged to stand firm on her promise of a no-deal Brexit by Lord Lawson of Blaby, who says the Prime Minister should refuse to submit to EU demands if Brussels offers Britain a bad deal.
European Union bosses forced Mrs May offer a series of compromises in order to move negotiations onto trade, forcing the Prime Minister to water down her Brexit vision set out in her Lancaster House speech.
In the triumphant speech, Mrs May said she would walk away from the negotiating table if she was faced with an offer of a poor deal from her Brussels counterparts.
Now with many Brexiteers unhappy about the prospect of paying the EU a large financial settlement to leave the bloc, continued membership of its single market and customs union and becoming a vassal state, Lord Lawson has urged the Prime Minister to remember her words.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Lord Lawson said Mrs May should “stick to her guns” and be ready to walk away from the negotiating table.
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If we get no deal there’s nothing to pay
“She should stick to the position that she annunciated in her Lancaster House speech – which was an excellent speech – in which she said ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’.
“Therefore it turns out if we can’t get anything other than a bad deal then we go back to no deal, and if we get no deal there’s nothing to pay.”
The Government has warned Whitehall it will not accept “excuses” for insufficient progress on Brexit negations and they must do more to prepare for an immediate divorce.
Civil servants were told to accelerate preparations for all eventualities – including the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal.
Brexit Secretary David Davis’ department is to return a series of Brexit delivery plans to Whitehall mandarins this month.
The Government will then compile monthly “progress reports” to check civil servants are moving fast enough with Brexit plans.
While the revelation civil servants will plan for a "no deal" Brexit follows controversy as pro-Remain ministers previously suggested this would not be a priority.
In 2017, Chancellor Philip Hammond said the Government would not prepare for a no deal Brexit until the "last moment", as Theresa May was focused on being able to negotiate an agreement with the EU.
However, in a reversal of this position, civil servants will have to make sure the Government can deliver any kind of Brexit.
