David Davis warns Tory Brexiteers: 'Remember the Spartans lost!'
The ex-Brexit secretary tells Sky News that Boris Johnson is likely to get a Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 19:26, UK
Former Brexit secretary David Davis has predicted a majority of MPs will support a Boris Johnson-negotiated EU exit deal as they know "this is the last play".
The ex-cabinet minister forecast that Conservative MPs who refused to support Theresa May's withdrawal agreement will back a deal secured by her successor.
Mr Davis quit Mrs May's government due to his opposition to her Brexit strategy.
But, unlike 28 of his Tory Brexiteer colleagues, he did not hold out against her withdrawal agreement and ended up supporting the former prime minister's deal during a third House of Commons vote.
Mr Davis, who has repeatedly said an agreement would be struck at the last minute, said he thinks Mr Johnson will be able to secure a deal ahead of a European Council summit on Thursday and Friday.
"The likelihood is that we will get there," the former Brexit secretary told Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby. "It will be nip and tuck. It will be scary but it was always going to be scary."
And, in a message to the so-called Tory Brexit "Spartans" who held out against Mrs May's deal, he called on them to support a withdrawal agreement this time round.
"Come together and support what we promised the electorate," Mr Davis told them.
"That's the point at the end of the day. A lot of people have drawn attention to the loss of faith in politics.
"Much of that at the moment is about the fact we haven't delivered on a referendum, which was the biggest democratic vote in the history of this country.
"It wasn't a slam dunk victory one way or the other, but it was a significant majority.
"We've got to deliver on it."
Mr Davis predicted the "Spartans" would indeed back a deal secured by Mr Johnson.
Number 10 officials met with some of those 28 Tory MPs in Downing Street on Tuesday while others, such as Home Secretary Priti Patel and Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers, are now senior members of Mr Johnson's government.
"There's little doubt the deal we'll come up with this week will not be perfect from the point of view of people like me, or what you call the 'Spartans' or whatever," Mr Davis added.
"It won't be perfect from any of our point of view - it's more concessions then we would like to have made.
"Certainly on Northern Ireland and maybe in other ways too.
"But, nevertheless, we will probably vote for it because it's as close as we're going to get to what we promised the electorate."
Mr Davis also predicted the DUP, who refused to support Mrs May's deal due to its backstop arrangement for the Irish border, would also back an agreement secured by Mr Johnson.
"The DUP are quite rightly very concerned about retaining the integrity of the UK," he said.
"That's incredibly important to them - it's also incredibly important to the Conservative and Unionist Party.
"But they also know this is the last play.
"So they'll make the same balanced judgement that I will make, which is - is this good enough? Is this significantly better than no deal?
"I think it will be, I think it will be for them and I think it will be for the people you nicely call the Spartans."
He added: "The thing to remember is, at Thermopylae, the Spartans lost! We want a victory, not a defeat."
Earlier on Tuesday, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier an agreement was "difficult" but "still possible this week".
Mr Davis took that as a sign a deal could be imminent, as he quipped: "That's as close to optimistic as you get with Michel."