Jacob Rees-Mogg signals extraordinary ERG u-turn to support Theresa May's Brexit deal

The leader of the hard-Brexit supporting European Research Group (ERG) consisting of around 80 Tory MPs, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has strongly signalled that he will perform an extraordinary u-turn to support Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal bill in any potential third meaningful vote.

Accompanied by a link to his latest Podcast, entitled The MoggCast, Rees-Mogg stated that he now believed "The choice seems to be Mrs May’s deal or no Brexit."

https://twitter.com/Jacob_Rees_Mogg/status/1110477916775821312

Furthermore, during the podcast Rees-Mogg also states that he now believes "[Theresa] May's deal is better than not leaving at all" and is "definitely not" worse than Remain.

Mogg's latest comments come in stark contrast to his own statements, previously labelling Mrs May's deal as a "worse situation than we're currently in" and even that it would make the UK a "slave state".

https://twitter.com/Femi_Sorry/status/1110480934380412930

Unsurprisingly, Rees-Mogg immediately faced a fierce backlash from fellow hard-Brexit supporters, with Leave.EU replying to his tweet by quoting many of his previous denouncements of Mrs May's deal:

https://twitter.com/LeaveEUOfficial/status/1110487498562641920

But now, in light of Rees-Mogg's apparent u-turn on supporting Mrs May's deal, the Prime Minister may well attempt to bring back her Brexit withdrawal bill for a third meaningful vote in the coming days.

Despite the ERG being apparently poised to support it, Mrs May still faces numerous obstacles in her way.

Firstly, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has previously indicated that he will not allow Mrs May to bring her deal back before the house unless "substantial changes" are made to it.

Secondly, following a meeting between Theresa May and Arlene Foster yesterday, it remains the case the Tories' confidence and supply partners, the DUP, are still vehemently opposed to the deal - stating that, despite the prospect of Brexit being delayed and MPs wrestling back control of Brexit from the executive, their opposition remains unchanged.

Were the entire ERG to support Mrs May's deal, it would significantly increase the number of votes in favour - but, without the support of the DUP, and with a significant portion of Tory Remainers also still opposed, the chances of the Prime Minister getting her deal through would still appear slim.