Canada-style Brexit ‘worse than no deal’

Theresa May says North would be cut off from UK

A CANADA-style Brexit trade deal that breaks up the UK would be worse than no deal, Theresa May has said.

The British prime minister said it would mean cutting off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK because it would have to align with EU rules in Ireland.

This comes after senior Tory Brexiteers including David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg backed proposals calling on the British government to seek a ‘basic’ free trade agreement for goods of the kind struck between the EU and Canada and pointed out such a move had already been offered by Brussels.

Downing Street later said the proposals would mean ‘Northern Ireland effectively remaining in parts of the single market and customs union’.

Speaking to reporters as she flew to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Mrs May – whose Tory government is propped up by the DUP – said: ‘I have always said no deal is better than a bad deal. I think a bad deal would be a deal that broke up the United Kingdom. We want to maintain the unity of the United Kingdom.

‘What we have put on the table is a good deal, it’s a deal which retains the union of the United Kingdom, our constitutional integrity, it’s a deal that provides for no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, protects jobs and enables us to have a good trading relationship with Europe and also the rest of the world.’

Mrs May said if the EU had concerns about her Brexit Chequers plan for future relations it should set them out along with any counter-proposals.

She added: ‘What he has clarified is that there is hope and expectation and desire for a deal on the side of the European Union and there are aspects of the Chequers proposal which they are comfortable with.’

The British cabinet backed proposals for EU nationals to be subject to the same rules as migrants from the rest of the world after free movement ceases to apply in the UK post-Brexit.

The PM said: ‘People voted to bring an end to free movement and we will do that.

‘As we look at our future proposals for our immigration rules, what we want to do is ensure that we are recognising the concerns that people have about immigration, that we are working to continue to bring net immigration down but obviously we do that in a way that’s going to be good for the British economy and our future.’