May secures Cabinet agreement over Brexit
British pm’s plan will avoid irish border
THERESA May has secured Cabinet agreement for her plans to leave the EU following marathon talks at her Chequers country residence, it has emerged.
The UK Prime Minister appears to have overcome rifts among her ministers and persuaded the most vocal Brexit campaigners to back her plan to press for “a free trade area for goods” with the EU and maintain close trade ties.
The agreement said there would be no need for an Irish backstop – a fallback option to avoid a hard border – but the UK would still agree to a legally operable one in the Withdrawal Agreement.
Downing Street also revealed the deal would protect the Good Friday Agreement.
Ms May said: “Our proposal will create a UK-EU free trade area which establishes a common rule book for industrial goods and agricultural products. This maintains high standards in these areas, but we will also ensure no new changes in the future take place without the approval of our Parliament.
“As a result, we avoid friction in terms of trade, which protects jobs and livelihoods, as well as meeting our commitments in Northern Ireland. We have also agreed a new businessfriendly customs model with freedom to strike new trade deals around the world.”
Details of the plan will be formally presented in a White Paper next week.
The agreed proposal – which also claimed Britain’s large services sector will not have the current levels of access to EU markets – will not come soon enough for Brussels, which has been pressing Ms May to come up with a detailed vision for future ties.
The EU’S Brexit negotiator Barnier said: “We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic.”
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “Brexit did not mean keeping the 90% of our economy that does not export to the EU trapped by their laws.
“This is a sell-out to the global corporates. No resignations means the so-called Brexiteers in Cabinet don’t have a principle between them, career politicians all.”