(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Ministers have been summoned to an emergency Cabinet meeting today afternoon, where they will be asked to sign off Theresa May's final Brexit deal with Brussels.
The critical meeting will review the final text of the withdrawal agreement, which was reached yesterday by British and European Union negotiators as the first step in the long process of ratifying the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
Ministers were being summoned to No 10 individually for briefings on the latest developments from the early evening. One source said they would be allowed to see the key papers later but not take them home.
'Cabinet will meet at 2pm today to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels, and to decide on next steps, a No 10 spokesman confirmed. 'Cabinet ministers have been invited to read documentation ahead of that meeting.
Hard Brexiters swiftly reacted negatively to the prospective deal and indicated they intended to vote against it if it came to parliament. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group said: 'I hope Cabinet will block it, or if not, parliament will block it.
Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary, said he believed the deal was 'vassal state stuff. He said the UK will be bound by laws over which it has no say, which was 'utterly unacceptable.
The principal document, the withdrawal agreement, runs to more than 400 pages of dense legal text. Ministers will be given an opportunity to read the documents before the meeting, and will be scrutinising them carefully to see when and how the Irish border backstop can be terminated and what is contained within its provisions.
Brexiters in the Cabinet such as Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt have repeatedly raised concerns that the UK must not sign up to a backstop arrangement that traps the country in a permanent customs union.
Others who have voiced unhappiness in recent meetings include Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, both of whom are considered to be potential alternative leaders. Rumours were also swirling in Westminster last week that Dominic Raab was close to resigning amid concerns about the backstop.
'Brexiters in the Cabinet will have to look deep in their souls now, one Conservative Brexit source added.
They will also want to see if the agreement contains any role for the European court of justice in resolving disputes, such as over the termination of the backstop.
An EU source confirmed that a 'stable text had been sent to London, but officials were not calling it a deal, saying full agreement at political level was still needed. 'It is now about seeing if this sticks, said the source.
If the Cabinet agrees the plan today, the EU expects to hold a special Brexit summit on November 25, with EU affairs ministers likely to prepare the ground at an extraordinary meeting on November 19.
Parliament will then ratify the deal in a keenly anticipated 'meaningful final vote that will take place in the middle of December. One Westminster source suggested that could happen on December 10, following at least two days of debate.
Those hoping to hold a second referendum are expected to use that moment to try to win over a majority in the Commons to the idea.
'I hope that finally we have something. I think it's pretty close now, a senior EU source said, drawing a distinction between a failed attempt to find a deal last month that ended when the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, met the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels.
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