UK’s latest Brexit plan is ‘full of holes’
A SOLUTION to the vexed post-Brexit Irish border question is still out of reach.
The EU fears the planned UK white paper on future trade with the EU, due this week, will not unlock a compromise on a “backstop” solution to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland.
The paper follows last week’s UK cabinet meeting at prime minister Theresa May’s Chequers country residence, after which she said the UK would soon be proposing a “facilitated customs arrangement” and an “EU-UK free trade area” for food and industrial goods.
But sources close to the Brexit negotiations said the EU would never be able to accept the proposal, over fears it would allow the UK backdoor access to the single market on softer terms. Brussels sources described the Chequers plan as a “fudge” and “full of holes”, with several EU countries predicting it would allow the UK to veer from EU rules.
The deal would allow the British parliament to diverge from EU rules in certain cases, and leave the UK free to strike its own trade deals and impose different tariffs and quotas to the bloc.
Irish Farmers’ Association President Joe Healy said the deal “falls far short of the commitments and clarity required by Irish and EU farmers. “It would allow the UK to open the floodgates to cheap food imports, for example Brazilian beef, that would not only destroy the UK market for Irish farmers but would also wreak havoc across the entire EU market,” Mr Healy said.
Brexit secretary David Davis resigned late on Sunday night over the deal, which he said would be unworkable, followed by foreign secretary Boris Johnson yesterday.