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Theresa May’s offer to Eurosceptic MPs of a backstop veto is not what it seems

Analysis: As the PM tries to talk round Brexiteers, chief political commentator John Rentoul looks at why this latest attempt to force through her deal probably won’t work

Thursday 06 December 2018 15:34 GMT
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Spin cycle: Theresa May is trying to sell her deal to parliament before Tuesday's vote
Spin cycle: Theresa May is trying to sell her deal to parliament before Tuesday's vote

The prime minister is trying to sell her Brexit deal to doubting Conservative MPs by offering them a “parliamentary lock” on the bit they don’t like, the backstop.

Let’s remind ourselves what the backstop is and why they don’t like it.

It’s a legally binding guarantee to keep an open border in Ireland after we leave the EU. Tory MPs don’t like it because we can’t get out of it except by signing a permanent trade deal that guarantees the same thing. Even Jeremy Corbyn has criticised it because we have no way out of it except with the agreement of the EU.

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