It will be almost impossible to get out of Theresa May's Chequers deal on Brexit, once it has been adopted, UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox warned ministers Wednesday.
The Chequers deal, a hardly-negotiated compromise Brexit scenario, incorporates a so-called "backstop," which is effectively an insurance policy designed to avoid the introduction of a hard border between Northern Ireland, which is a part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, which is a part of the EU.
However, the Chequers deal's current wording contains no end date, which has sparked fierce criticism from a number of ministers, who have accused Theresa May of trying to extricate herself from her current predicament by adopting the backstop concept without a clause that would allow it to later be broken.
Brexiteers are pushing for an "escape clause" that would allow the UK to break the backstop, in order to keep the UK from what they see as "permanent vassalage" to the EU.
Therefore, the UK government should either accept a backstop without the possibility of getting out of it later on, get rid the backstop clause from the deal, or push for a hard "no-deal" scenario, he told the Cabinet.
The latter option would introduce a proper border between the two Irelands, complete with customs, checks and limited freedom of movement.
Speaking before the Cabinet earlier on Tuesday, Cox compared the Ireland backstop to being "stuck in Dante's first circle of Hell."
"It was encouraging. Everyone was praising her," Tory MP Michael Fabricant said, referring to Theresa May's speech before the committee.
However, Brexiteer MPs have accused the PM of staging the entire event.
"The whips will communicate via Whatsapp. The first questioner will already have been agreed and the questions planted. It's a PR farce," Brexiteer MP Nadine Dorries told reporters after the event.