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Close to three dozen Conservative MPs sent a letter to the Prime Minister demanding that she show courage in the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
Among the eight demands outlined in the letter, the MPs declared: “Our departure must be absolute.
“We will not accept deal without robust conditionality, linking the £39billion financial settlement with a satisfactory free trade agreement and any part of the United Kingdom being treated differently from the rest.”
The lawmakers criticised the EU’s attempts to keep the UK as closely aligned to Brussels as possible, and demanded that there be no extension to the two-year withdrawal period commencing in March 2019.
They said: “We must not remain entangled with the EU’s institutions if this restricts our ability to exercise our sovereignty as an independent nation.
“Anything less will be a weakening of our democracy. Britain must stand firm.”
Commenting on the UK’s departure from the EU, Brexiteer MP Simon Clarke said: “It’s really important at this crucial time both with Europe and within the Cabinet that any watering down would be unacceptable to my constituents and to me.”
Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns noted she was deeply concerned about the direction of Brexit, and stated Tory MPs would not allow a “small minority” of people to “undermine the democratic vote of the people”.
She sent a warning to Mrs May, stating: “We must get tough with the European Union and demonstrate that we are prepared to walk away.”
Ms Jenkyns’ warning was echoed by Independent MEP Nathan Gill, who said: “Theresa May needs to hurry up and propose a concrete final offer to the EU with zero alternatives, which would require ending the current shenanigans of the cabinet failing to even agree to a proposal.”
The demands come after Mr Tusk issued a “last call” for the UK to “lay the cards on the table” in regards to its final Brexit policy.
The EU official declared the “most difficult tasks are still unresolved” and there was a “great deal of work ahead”.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, added: “The time is very short.
“Huge and serious divergence remains, in particular on Ireland and Northern Ireland.”
Deadlock remains within Mrs May’s Cabinet over the UK’s desired trade relationship with the EU post-Brexit, and the solution to the ongoing Irish border issue.
Commenting on the ongoing friction, Mrs May said: “I think both sides are keen to continue that work at a faster pace than we have done up till now and certainly we would welcome that.”
The Prime Minister intends to hold crunch talks with her Cabinet at Chequers next week to finalise the Government’s final Brexit policy.
Mrs May has also vowed to publish a Brexit White Paper in due course, which will set out “in more details the strong partnership the United Kingdom wants to see with the European Union in the future”.
However the former Brexit Minister, Lord Bridges, warned negotiations could be derailed if the Government fails to break the deadlock and reach a compromise.
He said: “If nothing changes, there’s a danger the UK will have to agree to a withdrawal treaty full of meaningless waffle on our future relationship with the EU.”
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