Ministers warned to stop 'lobbing grenades at each other' and prevent 'rout' in Brexit negotiations

'If you aren't honest about the situation, and compromise now among yourselves, the game will be up,' says Lord Bridges

PM will summon her cabinet next week to her Chequers residence (Alamy)

Cabinet ministers should to stop “lobbing grenades at each other” and reach a Brexit compromise to prevent a "rout" in the negotiations, a former minister has warned.

Urging the government unite over a proposal for a future relationship with the EU, the Conservative peer Lord Bridges said if ministers were not prepared to be honest about the position the UK finds itself in, then “the game will be up”.

The frank remarks came as European leaders – gathered in Brussels – demanded clarity from Theresa May as they swiftly adopted conclusions for a “realistic and workable” proposals from the UK government.

Next week, Ms May will summon her divided cabinet to her Chequers residence with the aim of reaching an agreement on a blueprint for future trade ahead of the publication of the government’s white paper on the future UK-EU relationship.

But Lord Bridges, who served in the Department for Exiting the European (DExEU) between July 2016 and June 2017, said the Cabinet was currently divided between those who see sovereignty as the most important issues and those regarding access to the EU market as a bigger priority.

“If nothing changes, there's a danger the UK will have to agree to a withdrawal treaty full of meaningless waffle on our future relationship with the EU,” he wrote in the London Evening Standard.

”With so little leverage in the next phase, the negotiations would become a rout. Worse, uncertainty will drag on, damaging our economy.”

Her continued: “You must compromise - among yourselves, then with Europe.

”Some of you feel passionately that restoring Parliamentary sovereignty is more important than keeping trade flowing. Others feel passionately the other way. But if you stay in your trenches, lobbing grenades at each other, the EU will be the winner.”

While accepting that no compromise will ever be “perfect”, he warned ministers: “If you aren't honest about the situation, and compromise now among yourselves, the game will be up.”

Speaking after the European Council meeting on Friday, Donald Tusk, the council’s president, said the “most difficult tasks are still unresolved” in the Brexit negotiations and called for “quick progress” ahead of the next summit scheduled for October.

“This is the last call to lay the cards on the table,” he said.