May tries to charm MPs in bid to avoid party split over customs plan

Theresa May has held private meetings for dozens of Conservative backbench MPs in an effort to get them onside with her customs union plans ahead of another crunch meeting of her Brexit inner cabinet on Tuesday.The prime minister summoned nearly all of her parliamentary party to briefings to try to explain the two options for customs arrangements with the European Union amid fears the issue would continue to divide the party.Several MPs who attended the meetings insisted that May and her senior