Theresa May under pressure to unify party ahead of major Brexit speech

The Prime Minister is expected to discuss the contents of the address during a special meeting of the Cabinet this morning ahead of a trip to Italy on Friday.

The speech – heralded as a “significant” intervention by Downing Street – follows reports of tensions between Mrs May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson over the question of future payments to the EU.

Both sides have sought to downplay these claims, but senior party figures have expressed frustration at the lack of leadership and cooperation in Government.

Tomorrow’s announcement by the Prime Minister has been widely trailed as her most important commentary on Brexit since January’s Lancaster House speech. It has been suggested that she will use it to present a more detailed picture of possible future arrangements with the EU, including how much the UK would be willing to pay during a transition period.

Such financial contributions are a key sticking point for those in the Brexiteer camp, some of whom question the Union’s demands for a “divorce bill” and would like to see all payments into the trading bloc cease once Britain leaves. This is understood to be a personal red line for Mr Johnson, who made his opposition to future payments clear in a 4,000 word article he wrote for The Telegraph at the weekend.

The essay was seen as an attempt to apply pressure on the Prime Minister to reign in any ambitions to pursue a “Swiss-style” arrangement after Britain leaves the EU – which could involve paying for continued access to the single market. There were even reports that the Foreign Secretary was willing to resign over the issue if Mrs May’s speech on Friday fails to rule the option out.

The former London mayor has since dismissed these claims, adding that it is “legitimate and right” for Britain to “pay our dues” to the EU. However, he qualified his comments by stressing that this commitment only applies “during the period of membership”.

Mr Johnson and fellow Leave supporter Liam Fox are both believed to be in favour of a future trade deal with the European Union resembling the agreement secured by Canada. But the Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd have indicated they would prefer a ,uch closer relationship with the EU.

The Foreign Secretary’s interventions have drawn fierce criticism from several senior members of the party, with Lord Tebbit yesterday adding his voice to that of Lord Hague in calling for the Cabinet to present a united front. Speaking to the BBC, the former party chairman urged ministers to “coalesce and get themselves better organised”.

“This is a Cabinet that was formed after the Prime Minister failed to win a larger majority at the election which she called, and therefore it is vulnerable,” he said. “What is wrong is that there was not an agreed line which had been endorsed at the Cabinet... on what people should be saying.

“If there is a songsheet, then you expect everyone to sing from it.... I think that the leadership is not well-organised.”

Today’s special meeting of the Cabinet follows the latest forecasts from the OECD which predict UK growth will slow to one percent next year. Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable warned that Brexit risks turning Britain “into the sick man of Europe again”.

“Theresa May must change course from an extreme Brexit, to avoid years of lower growth and falling living standards,” he said.