Theresa May makes plea to business to save Chequers agreement

Theresa May will attempt on Monday to rally business and industry behind her Chequers proposal for a soft Brexit as Conservative Eurosceptics threaten to rebel on key votes in parliament. The prime minister will tell aviation executives at Farnborough International Airshow that her plan will protect and strengthen the competitive position of British industry.

“Our proposal sets out the right deal for the UK – honouring the democratic decision of the British people, protecting the integrity of our precious union, supporting growth, maintaining security and safeguarding British jobs. We will take back control of our borders, our laws and our money. But we will do so in a way that is good for business and good for our future prosperity,” she will say.

Ms May defended her proposal on Sunday against criticism from within her own party that adhering to a “common rule book” with the EU for good would keep Britain too tightly within the European regulatory orbit. She said maintaining regulatory alignment was necessary to protect jobs and avoid a chaotic exit from the EU.

"I've got to be hard-headed and practical about this and do it in a way that ensures we get the best interests for the UK," she told the BBC's Andrew Marr.

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“What this ‘common rule book’ does is it protects those jobs and livelihoods that do depend on those integrated supply chains.”

The prime minister revealed that Donald Trump had advised her to sue the EU rather than engage in negotiations on Brexit.

Tory amendments

MPs will debate a customs bill and a trade bill on Monday and Tuesday, with Conservatives on both sides of the Brexit debate tabling amendments. Pro-Europe rebels want to include a commitment to remain in a customs union with the EU if the Chequers proposal is not accepted. Brexiteers led by Jacob Rees-Mogg have tabled four amendments aimed at wrecking key elements of the Chequers plan.

Mr Rees-Mogg said on Sunday that the prime minister still had time to change her proposal, which he claimed was in breach of the red lines she set out at Lancaster House last year.

“The government unfortunately believes that Brexit is not a good thing in itself. It seems to think it has to be tempered with non-Brexit, and that was when the prime minister said ‘People voted with their hearts’ and she was doing something with her head. In my view and in the view of most Brexiteers, head and heart come together. Brexit is enormously positive, a huge opportunity for the country, and I’m afraid the prime minister doesn’t see that, and it’s why I think she is a Remainer who has remained a Remainer,” he told the BBC.

Conservative divisions appear to have damaged the party's standing, and a poll by Opinium for the Observer shows Labour with its biggest lead since last year's election. The poll puts Labour at 40 per cent, unchanged since last month, with the Conservatives down six points to 36 per cent. Support for Ukip has risen five points, from 3 per cent to 8 per cent.