The Prime Minister's chief Brexit adviser today admitted the deal's hugely controversial backstop is 'uncomfortable' for the UK.
Oliver Robbins said Brussels would not accept any kind of deal which did not include a plan B backstop to keep the Irish border soft.
He was grilled by MPs on the Brexit select committee just hours after it emerged that he wrote to the PM warning her that the Northern Ireland backstop is a 'bad outcome'.
In the leaked letter, he said it will undermine security co-operation and there was no legal 'guarantee' that Britain will be able to escape it - leaving the UK trapped in a customs union with the EU.
Quizzed by MPs, Mr Robbins said: 'I think the backstop is not the future relationship which either the UK or the EU want to have with each other.
'It is an uncomfortable position for both sides. The reality is that there is not a Withdrawal Agreement without a backstop.'
His warning was repeated by new Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, who was appearing in front of the committee for the first time since he was promoted to the job last month.
The Prime Minister's chief Brexit adviser Oliver Robbins (pictured left today) admitted the deal's hugely controversial backstop is 'uncomfortable but necessary' for the UK, but he insisted a deal would not be done without one. His warning was repeated by new Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (pictured right today) who said the EU would not allow a deal without a Plan B
The pair were quizzed by the Brexit select committee (pictured today) just eight days before the crunch Brexit vote in the Commons on December 11
Theresa May (pictured leaving No10 today) is facing the toughest week of her political career as the crunch Brexit vote looms on December 11 while her premiership is hanging by a thread
Mr Barclay said: 'Whether it Norway, Canada plus the various deals that have been floated - it will always need a backstop.'
But it was also suggested that Britain had draw up an alternate plan which would allow the UK to pull out of the backstop unilaterally, without the EU's permission.
Mrs May has repeatedly been urged by her Tory backbench critics and the powerful DUP to go back to Brussels and get a deal which does precisely this.
Asked about such a plan, Mr Robbins said: 'Ministers asked us to look at a whole range of options for how to bring the backstop to an end, and so we did.
'And the Prime Minister and other ministers tested some of those out on European partners.
'But, what we went into the negotiation with in the end was a text that delivered the termination clause very much as it is laid out there.'
Their appearance comes as the PM is facing the toughest week of her political career as she desperately tries to get her under-fire Brexit deal passed on December 11.
Mr Barclay dismissed suggestions the vote could be pulled by Tory whips amid overwhelming signs it will be defeated after a staggering 101 Tory MPs vowed to vote against it.
He said: 'I think the vote will happen next Tuesday and I look forward to making the case.'
Challenged by Tory Andrea Jenkyns on if he is confident it will get passed next week, he said: 'I think it is challenging. Everyone recognises that. But there is clearly time between now and the vote.'
Quizzed on if there is a Plan B, Mrs Jenkyns said: 'The country wants to know.'
Mr Barclay admitted it is 'unclear' and said 'it could be no deal, it could be no Brexit'.
Mr Robbins hinted that he is in favour of an extension to the two year Brexit transition period.
He said: 'It is true that if the UK were to enter into an extension of the transition period some of the negative consequences of being in the backstop won't apply.'
Mr Barclay added: 'What I hear all the time from business that they want certainty...what needs to be the focus and what the political declaration unlocks, is the future relationship.
'As a Brexiteer as an optimist for the future as someone who wants to trade with the world I want to look to that future trading relationship.'
But the pair faced fiery questioning from Tory MP and leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said the backstop would mean 'taxation without representation'.
He said: 'If the EU raises tariffs we will have to follow and it will mean we will have to follow and that means taxation without representation.'
Mr Barclay said: 'I don't accept that at all.'
But in a withering response, Mr Rees-Mogg said it looked as if the new Brexit Secretary did not understand what he was talking about, and said this is 'worrying'.
And Tory MP and arch Eurosceptic Peter Bone furiously demanded to know when the PM changed her mind and decided the transition should be extended to beyond the end of 2020.
But Mr Barclay insisted that leaving the transition by the end of 2020 is still policy, but No10 has now decided that it could be extended by a few months further.
Blair grilled on the breakfast sofa on why he is backing another referendum?
Tony Blair (pictured on GMB today) stepped up his campaign for a second Brexit referendum - and said Theresa May's deal should not be an option on another ballot
Tony Blair faced a fiery grilling today as he was challenged over why he is calling for another Brexit referendum just two years after the historic vote.
The ex-PM is stepping up his campaign for a so-called People's Vote and lashed Theresa May's deal for 'yielding' too much to Brussels.
Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain, he said another referendum should be held which gives Britons a choice between staying in the EU or having a Boris Johnson-style hard Brexit.
But presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan quizzed him over why Remain should even be on the ballot two years after the side lost.
In a heated exchange with the ex Labour leader, Susanna said: 'Why should Remain even be an option on the second referendum? Why isn't it a choice between May's deal and an alternative Brexit?
'Because the whole Remain camp didn't win that campaign. Why should we re-run that part of the referendum? Why would Brexiteers - people who voted to leave , not feel utterly infuriated that is being re-run?'
Mr Blair hit back, saying: 'I think if you had a referendum and you excluded the possibility of remaining I think your 16-odd million people who voted Remain would feel a great sense of disillusion if they weren't able to make their case again.'
Mr Bone furiously said it is 'not helpful when ministers and civil servants refuse to answer a straight question' and accused the pair of 'flying in the face of the facts'.
The grilling came as Mrs May today faced a fresh barrage of attacks from all sides over her Brexit deal.
She is trying to appeal to the country over the heads of her warring MPs, and today appeared on ITV's This Morning sofa to urge MPs to protect their constituents' jobs and back her deal.
But she faced a battle of the breakfast sofas as Labour ex PM and arch Remainer Tony Blair tried to turn the screw by appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain to demand a second referendum.
And he said that the PM's deal should not even be on the ballot paper - instead voters should be given a choice between remain and a 'true Brexit' of the type advocated by Boris Johnson.
While a group of Remain-backing MPs from across the political divide delivered a stack of petitions to No10 today to demand a second vote.
And Mrs May could face being held in contempt of Parliament as Tory rebels unite with the DUP and Labour to demand full legal advice on her Brexit deal is released.
The Prime Minister is resisting huge pressure to disclose the private opinion Attorney General Geoffrey Cox gave on the package she has thrashed out with Brussels.
The eminent QC and strident Brexiteer was a key figure in forcing the deal through the Cabinet - but there are claims his formal written advice was far bleaker and he warned the UK would be stuck 'indefinitely' in the Irish border backstop.
Despite a Commons motion being passed demanding the full document, ministers are insisting they will only release a summary as the full material would break convention and undermine the operation of government.
Boris Johnson today joined condemnation of the refusal, saying it was a 'scandal' and pointing out that Mrs May previously called for advice on the Iraq War to be released.
If the government does not cave in by the time Mr Cox makes a statement to the Commons this evening, Speaker John Bercow could launch contempt proceedings - triggering a formal investigation in the PM or her most senior colleagues.
The potential punishments include suspension or expulsion from the House, although they have not been deployed for decades.
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/category/the-sun-world/https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/ollie-robbins-admits-the-brexit-deal-backs-top-is-uncomfortable/
News Pictures Ollie Robbins admits the Brexit deal backs top is uncomfortable
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/03/13/6944764-6454931-image-a-12_1543845527407.jpg
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