UK Prime Minister Theresa May's hopes rise as Tory MPs soften Brexit stand

London: UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s hopes of winning parliamentary approval for her Brexit deal grew last night with the leader of Conservative backbenchers softening his opposition.

Graham Brady and his 1922 committee suggested he will recommend that MPs back it — if the prime minister secures new assurances on the Irish backstop.

The move is a significant shift and came as senior government sources predicted that May could hold the crucial meaningful vote as early as this week. Only weeks ago Brady successfully championed a Commons amendment that instructed May to return to Brussels to negotiate the complete removal of the backstop from the withdrawal agreement and find another way to solve the Irish border issue.

Brady and other leading Tory backbenchers — who fear the alternative to May’s deal would be a no-deal Brexit, a lengthy delay or a second referendum — now seem prepared to drop their demand on condition that they win reassurances that the backstop will be temporary and does not risk locking the UK into a permanent EU customs union. Brady told media last night that his intention had always been to “ensure that the backstop could not assume a permanent status, trapping the UK in the EU customs union”.

May’s decision last week to hold a vote on delaying Brexit if her deal is rejected again, coupled with Labour’s coming out more clearly in support of a second referendum, have been key factors in persuading many Conservatives to consider switching their vote to support the prime minister. Other senior Tories say that while May still faces an uphill struggle to win over many of the most hardline Tory opponents of her deal —and the 10 Ulster Unionists — many others who helped inflict the 230-vote defeat in January are now looking for ways to back down and support it.