Jacob Rees-Mogg says Theresa May has ‘surrendered to the European Union’ and that the UK will turn into a ‘slave state’ with the Brexit agreement.

The MP’s comments comes after Government sources confirmed a Brexit deal has been agreed on a ‘technical level’ and will be examined at a Cabinet meeting.

Speaking to Sky News, Rees-Mogg said: ‘She hasn’t so much struck a deal as surrendered to Brussels and given in to everything they want and tried to frustrate Brexit that it’s not so much a vassal state anymore as a slave state.’

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He continued: ‘If the text is as we think, and it’s interesting that is has been leaked to the Irish media first and not given to the British media, if that is correct it should be rejected.


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‘Why? Because it could potentially keep up in a customs union indefinitely with no ability to leave. It would divide up the United Kingdom by having separate rules in Northern Ireland and it would mean we would be paying £39 billion without knowing what we are paying it for.’



Rees-Mogg added: ‘This doesn’t seem to me to be delivering on the prime minister’s very clear promises.’

The draft agreement is thought to involve a customs union remaining between the UK and the EU, with some special arrangements in Northern Ireland to prevent a border with the Republic being necessary.

Jacob Rees-Mogg hit out at the prime minister (Picture: Sky News)

The prime minister will need to win the support of ministers at the special meeting tomorrow.

Negotiations have not concluded, but this marks a significant step forward in talks.

However, problems are already developing for May over the potential Brexit deal, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson describing it as a ‘catastrophe’ and urged ex-Cabinet colleagues to ‘chuck it out’.

He said: ‘This is just about as bad as it could possibly be. You’ve got the UK remaining in the customs union,-so we can’t do trade deals or take control of our laws.

‘We will accept EU laws but be unable to shape them.

The reports emerged shortly after Number 10 repeated that there remained a ‘small number of outstanding issues’ in the negotiations (Picture: Reuters)

‘The kicker is that we haven’t even managed to protect the union between the UK and Northern Ireland, because there would have to be customs checks along the Irish Sea.

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‘The cabinet should man up and woman up and chuck it out – there’s no question. ‘It’s a catastrophe. There’s no point leaving the EU if you end up being wrung by the EU.’

Writing on Twitter, Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly asked: ‘How come all these Brexiteers are throwing their toys out of the pram…. before we know the deal terms. Could it be that they always intended us to jump naked off the cliff whatever the terms!”

A series of ministers have been seen entering and leaving Downing Street following the Number 10 announcement.

Boris Johnson called the draft a ‘catastrophe’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Chief Whip Julian Smith told reporters: ‘I am confident that we will get this through Parliament and that we can deliver on what the Prime Minister committed to on delivering Brexit.’

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said ministers would have to ‘reflect on the detail’.

He said: ‘That’s what the Government has been working for all this time, to get a deal, and negotiators have worked incredibly hard to get us to this point but we have to reflect on the detail and consider at Cabinet tomorrow.’



Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested Mrs May’s administration could collapse over the deal.

He warned that if reports of the deal’s contents were true, the Government was ‘breaking their own agreed position and will be bringing back something that is untenable’.

We still have time to go for something better – a SuperCanada free trade deal that will allow the UK to benefit from brexit and actually respect the referendum. The future can be bright if only we change course now 2/2 — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 13, 2018

He added that ‘if the Cabinet agrees it, the party certainly won’t’.

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Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the DUP which props up May’s minority administration, said that the deal as reported would leave Northern Ireland ‘subject to the rules and laws set in Brussels with no democratic input or any say’.

He added: ‘We object to that on constitutional grounds that our laws would be made in Brussels, not in Westminster or Belfast. That is the fundamental red line.’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party would vote against the deal if it failed to meet its tests.

He said: ‘We will look at the details of what has been agreed when they are available.

Neither Brussels nor Dublin confirmed that a deal had been reached, despite the Number 10 announcement (Picture Getty Images)

‘But from what we know of the shambolic handling of these negotiations, this is unlikely to be a good deal for the country.’

A spokesman for chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the latest in the negotiations had been set out earlier by commission vice president Frans Timmermans, who said that while the talks were making progress ‘we are not there yet’.

The European Commission would ‘take stock’ on Wednesday, he added.

A Number 10 spokesman said: ‘Cabinet will meet at 2pm tomorrow to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels and to decide on next steps.


‘Cabinet ministers have been invited to read documentation ahead of that meeting.’

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