Beleaguered May remains upbeat on Brexit deal
EMBATTLED Prime Minister Theresa May has called on her warring Conservative Party to back her in trying to broker a reasonable Brexit deal — including compromise on the Irish border.
Concluding four days of bad-tempered rows at the her party conference, Mrs May tried to lighten her keynote speech by dancing on to the stage to the strains of ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba, and telling jokes. She staunchly defended her strategy in the tough EU-UK divorce talks which Brussels now says must conclude in a draft deal by November 18.
Defending her Chequers plan, she said it would allow “frictionless trade in goods” while also protecting “our precious Union”, with no change at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
But Mrs May’s ongoing internal party difficulties were again compounded by a third media intervention by DUP leader, Arlene Foster, whose party keeps the UK minority government in office.
Mrs Foster effectively repeated her threats to withdraw support
Prime Minister Theresa May tried to lighten the mood by dancing on stage before her keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party conference
if a border deal is not satisfactory, stressing the intensity of DUP objections to applying controls for Northern Ireland exports to Britain as part of a Brexit solution. “The red line is blood red, it is very red,” Mrs Foster said.
Mrs May’s plan proposes that the UK align with EU standards on goods and food products, but diverge from the trade bloc in the regulation of services.
This idea also faces many EU objections but may offer the basis
for a compromise solution on the Irish border.
She said it was “in the national interest” to back the plan, which was roundly rejected by EU leaders last month as unworkable.
“What we are proposing is
very challenging for the EU. But if we stick together and hold our nerve I know we can get a deal that delivers for Britain,” Mrs May said. Without naming them, she hit out at her critics among prominent Conservative MPs, including former foreign minister Boris Johnson. She suggested their ideas for a more decisive economic break with the EU put hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs at risk.
Among the Irish border compromises now being considered is a complex proposal that involves carrying out customs checks away from the border itself, but also minimising the need for regulatory inspections by having Northern Irish-made goods conform to EU standards after Brexit.
Officials are also floating the idea of aligning UK and EU customs rules temporarily until new technology can be deployed that will make physical border checks unnecessary. But again this faces huge EU objections and the DUP reticence on the entire issue is a further complication.
There was speculation throughout about a leadership heave. One backbencher, James Duddridge, a supporter of Boris Johnson, said he had attempted to trigger the process for a leadership election.
Mrs May struck an optimistic tone, by promising “better days ahead” after Brexit.
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