PM and EU chief to meet in Windsor for ‘final talks’ as Tory Brexiters say Sunak has done ‘very well’ but not enough
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Brexit secretary, has been doing a media round this morning. As reported earlier, he gave Rishi Sunak some credit for what the PM seems to have negotiated, but said that he did not think it would be enough to satisfy the DUP. (See 9.31am.) He said:
From what I’ve heard, he [Sunak] has done very well, but I’m not sure he has achieved the objective of getting the DUP back into powersharing, which is the fundamental point of it.
Rees-Mogg said that a “significant number” of Tory MPs would not be happy with the deal if it did not have DUP backing. He told GB News:
It will all depend on the DUP. If the DUP are against it, I think there will be quite a significant number of Conservatives who are unhappy.
He said Boris Johnson’s views would be influential in determing how Tory MPs responded to the deal. He said:
The position of Boris Johnson is always important. He remains the biggest figure in UK politics and therefore his view will be of fundamental relevance to how this debate is carried out.
Rees-Mogg stressed that he needed to see the text of the deal before making a judgment. He said:
I’m afraid with all the EU deals the devil is in the detail, so when people say ‘we need to see the legal text’, they are not larking about, they really want to see it to understand what the effect is.
He said there seemed to be “some important concessions” from the EU in the deal.
He criticised No 10 for not consulting the DUP more fully ahead of agreeing the deal. He said:
My concern over all of this is what sounds to be quite an achievement has been weakened by not consulting the DUP in the first place to ensure their support was on board before it was announced, rather than taking a punt that they may like it afterwards.
I think that’s unfortunate, I think it hasn’t necessarily been handled successfully in terms of communications.
He said that it would be “ridiculous” for the Conservative party to change leader again before the election. Asked about Johnson returing as party leader, he told Good Morning Britain:
Boris was a great leader, it was a mistake to get rid of him but, no, I do not want to see a change in the Tory leadership now. I think we would look ridiculous to change leader again …
I’m not saying that I never want to see Boris come back, for the whole of eternity. But I want to see Conservative MPs and Conservative party members supporting Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading…
