Rees-Mogg Won’t Insist on Dropping Irish Backstop, Report Says

  • Pro-Brexit lawmaker softens position on May’s Brexit deal
  • Three-month delay could allow Britain to prepare for no-deal
Jacob Rees-MoggPhotographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Pro-Brexit lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg is no longer insisting that the “Irish backstop” be dropped as a condition for supporting Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, he told the Financial Times in an interview.

In a sign that he’s softening opposition to the plan, Rees-Mogg -- the leader of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Conservative Party lawmakers -- said he would consider other legal fixes to ensure the so-called backstop didn’t become permanent, the paper reported. That could be in the form of an appendix to the text, he said.