Theresa May braces for backlash as she prepares to agree EU-friendly Brexit deal She’s likely to face a major backlash from Eurospeptics within her party over the plans

Theresa May told her inner Cabinet she is poised to agree a deal with Brussels that could see the UK tied to a customs union with the EU indefinitely, it has emerged.

The Prime Minister is likely to face a major backlash from Eurosceptics within her party over the plans, with Leave-backing Cabinet members expected to resist such concessions.

According to the Financial Times, two pro-Brexit members of her Cabinet were believed to be on the cusp of quitting in protest to the UK remaining within a customs union with the EU.

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Mrs May is understood to be prepared to agree to EU demands for a backstop arrangement that will keep the whole of the UK tied to EU customs rules for a “temporary” period but with no end date.

‘Without an end date we could be in the customs union forever’

The agreement will also see Northern Ireland remain within the single market in a bid to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, should both sides fail to secure a trade deal after the transition period.

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey are said to be opposed to the plan.

One source close to Ms McVey told the FT: “They are going to talk a lot over the weekend and consider what they will live with and what they will walk over.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the influential European Research Group of Brexiteer MPs, said: “It is worth remembering that income tax was introduced as a temporary measure. Without an end date, we could be in the customs union forever.”

‘Big issues to be resolved’

The news comes after the Democratic Unionist Party threatened to vote against the Budget, and potentially bring down the Government, in opposition to a backstop plan that would treat Northern Ireland differently to the rest of Great Britain.

Downing Street has insisted that the UK’s position on any backstop agreement has not changed since it was published in June. Under that document, the UK said a backstop would be “expected” to end by December 2021.

On Thursday morning, Mrs May’s official spokesman told journalists that “big issues” still remained to be resolved between the UK and Brussels, which included the backstop and issues such as geographic indicators for goods.

A Number 10 source said that the Government’s position had not changed and “big issues” had yet to be ironed out.

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