Could Shropshire MP Owen Paterson hold the key to Brexit deal?
Spotted entering Downing Street, Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has led a delegation to talk Brexit with Theresa May.
The former minister is one of the leading critics of the Prime Minister’s approach to Europe.
But he also believes he may have a solution to the current crisis that is threatening to throw Brexit into chaos.
The North Shropshire MP is a former Northern Ireland minister.
He met Mrs May to argue that sophisticated technology could be created to create a ‘virtual’ border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
That would negate the need for any special deal for Northern Ireland, a prospect that is threatening to dismantle the alliance between the government and the DUP.
Mr Paterson joined other hard liners, including Iain Duncan-Smith, in an hour-long meeting in Downing Street.
It comes as Theresa May travelled to Brussels for talks amid pressure for her to see further EU concessions.
See also:
Mr Paterson finds himself projected back into the political limelight amid his latest moves over Brexit.
During his 21 years in the House of Commons he has been in and out of both the opposition and government front benches.
Now Brexit has seen him become a leading spokesman for the pro-Leave political community.
Mr Paterson is a prominent critic of Theresa May’s position on Brexit. He is also a leading member of the European Research Group, the organisation which includes Jacob Rees-Mogg, that is campaigning for a clean break from the EU. While Mr Rees-Mogg has led a rebellion to submit letters of no confidence against the Prime Minister, Mr Paterson has not made his position clear.
He was yesterday said to be in ‘back-to-back’ meetings that made him unavailable to talk.
But it is clear that he wants to influence and change the current deal by putting pressure on the PM through action and debate.
Backstop
Mr Paterson has just returned from Washington where he was in talks with the Trump administration over a UK/US trade agreement.
He was also part of a delegation of Brexiteers that held late night talks with Theresa May urging her to drop the Irish ‘backstop’ plans.
He maintains that sophisticated technology negates the need for either hard borders or a special deal between Northern Ireland and Ireland which will remain in the EU. That would also potentially appease members of the DUP, who are threatening to remove support from the Government over concerns that the Brexit arrangements would water down the union that keeps Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom.
Mr Paterson joined other hard-liners, including Iain Duncan-Smith, in Downing Street, in an hour-long meeting on Monday night running the gauntlet of the national press in the walk to Number 10.
The meeting came hot on the heels of the Shropshire MP’s trip to America along with ex-Brexit secretary, David Davis.
It was the latest in a series of regular trips to America for Mr Paterson who regularly speaks to the business community in Washington, the latest visit being in September.
He has long campaigned for Britain being able to have a World Trade Agreement deal with the US saying leaving the European Union must allow this to happen.
As well as meetings with the government Mr Paterson, a former Defra and Environment minister, also had talks with the America Farm Bureau during the trip.
After the visit he said: “We had interesting wide-ranging discussion with the Farm Bureau on a potential UK/US Free Trade Deal. But it is only possible if UK has full control of tariffs and regulatory environment, which is not delivered by the draft Withdrawal Agreement.”
As Mr Paterson continues to campaign, Mr Rees-Mogg has issued a warning that the Conservatives will be stuck with Mrs May as leader for the next general election unless they move to get rid of her now.
Amid signs the attempt by Brexiteers to force a vote of confidence in the PM has stalled, Mr Rees-Mogg acknowledged they were struggling to get the support they needed.
But he insisted there was little enthusiasm among Tory MPs for Mrs May to take them into the next election, due in 2022.
“I think it is now or the Prime Minister will lead the Conservatives into the next election,” he told reporters at a Westminster news conference.
