May to reveal no-deal Brexit preparations as DUP backs Tory hardliners

Prime Minister Theresa May is set to hold a special three-hour cabinet meeting to discuss plans for a no-deal Brexit in the increasingly likely case that her Chequers deal is rejected as she loses support from Northern Irish allies the DUP.

The European Union is hoping the UK will finally agree to an Irish “backstop” proposal before November to close a deal by that date.

With the Irish issue one of the main hurdles on the road to a Brexit deal, the EU are starting to redraft the language on the “backstop” in an attempt to make it more acceptable for the UK, Bloomberg reported.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab wrote in Thursday's Daily Telegraph that “the government would not pay the terms of the financial settlements to the European Union” unless there was a deal. He added that “there’s no deal without the whole deal”.

After the cabinet meeting on Thursday morning, the government will publish more guidance for a potential hard Brexit in which issues such as mobile phone roaming charges, driving licences and passports will be covered.

Nevertheless, this could pose a problem for May who could face a potential coup from the Tory party as several Brexit supporting MPs want to oust her to get rid of her of her Chequers deal.

Tory hardliners think her Brexit blueprint will lead the UK too closely tied to the block.

Furthermore any text presented to parliament regarding the Irish border needs to win over the votes of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party that gives May her majority in Westminster.

On Wednesday the Brexit-supporting European Research Group unveiled their alternative ideas on how to avoid a hard border in Ireland, which was endorsed by Northern Irish unionists, limiting the PM’s room for manoeuvre.

DUP chief Nigel Dodds said that the ERG paper contained “sensible practical measures which can ensure there will be no hard border.”