And Mrs May herself is reported to be heading across the Channel for another meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker later this week – much earlier than expected.

A countervailing wind blew from Ireland, though, where Irish ministers seemed to be digging their heels in against any compromise on the vexed issue of the 'Northern Ireland backstop' – the apparent obstacle to British MPs passing Mrs May's Brexit deal.

"The only solution which can ensure we do not see the emergence of a hard border is an agreement on customs, a common customs territory, call it what you will, and regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the EU or perhaps the whole UK and the EU," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday – not a position Mrs May or her party could support.

Independent Group poised to expand

Meanwhile in London, rumours continued to swirl as to whether other MPs from both sides of politics would defect from their parties to the new 'Independent Group' of seven breakaway Labour legislators now sitting on the cross benches.

It was unclear from Mr Gove's remarks whether there might be a new plan to impose a blanket tariff, or whether Britain would apply EU-style quotas that would allow some Australian beef to enter tariff-free. Matthew Lloyd\Bloomberg

A day after the MPs made their shock announcement, news reports put the number of potential additional defectors from Labour at up to 30, possibly more. A couple of Conservatives were also rumoured to be contemplating desertion.

This would potentially make the group the third-largest in parliament, giving them financial and speaking entitlements that might help their cause.


One of the ringleaders, London MP Chuka Umunna, said he hoped the group would become a formal political party by the end of this year.

Their optimism may have taken a dent from an instant poll from Survation, which showed that the group has a lot of ground to make up.

Only 8 per cent of voters gave their backing to "a new centrist party opposed to Brexit" – and most seemed to switch from the Liberal Democrats, an existing centre-left anti-Brexit minor party, with a small chunk coming from Labour.

Still, YouGov separately found that one-third of people who voted Labour at the most recent election backed the seven MPs' decision to quit Labour in protest at leader Jeremy Corbyn's policies.

Blanket tariff?

Mr Gove's intervention came after reports last week that the government was planning to scrap all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit, to buoy consumers through a period of potentially rising prices and economic disruption.

Trade Secretary Liam Fox, said to be a strong proponent, later rowed back from the plan and an announcement on new tariff schedules was seemingly postponed.

Mr Gove told the NFU: "You argued that we need tariffs on sheepmeat, beef, poultry, dairy – both milk and cheese – and pig meat in order to safeguard domestic production. Your concerns have been heard and announcement on new UK tariffs in a no-deal scenario – with specific and robust protections for farming – will be made shortly."


It was unclear from Mr Gove's remarks whether there might be a new plan to impose a blanket tariff, or whether Britain would apply EU-style quotas that would allow some Australian beef and sheepmeat to enter tariff-free.

The Australian government has already objected to an earlier Britain-EU plan to split the existing EU quota, which would crimp exporters' flexibility and potentially make some Australian shipments unviable.

Mr Gove said vulnerable farmers might also receive direct cash support to withstand the impact of Brexit, particularly in a no-deal scenario.

But he said the emergency no-deal tariff schedule was not the government's preferred policy. "It shouldn't be taken as the be-all and end-all of UK policy, absolutely not," he said.