‘British talks on trade deals outside EU received warmly’

Johnson slaps lobby for EU customs call

LONDON, Jan 22, (Agencies): Britain will be leaving the EU’s customs union to strike its own free trade deals and has had positive responses from countries with which ministers have held preliminary trade talks, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.

“The PM was clear that we will be leaving the customs union,” he told reporters.

“We also want the freedom to strike our own free trade deals ... We’ve been engaged in preliminary discussions on trade with more than a dozen countries and ... you can see that there has been a warm response.”

Meanwhile, foreign Secretary Boris Johnson pushed back Sunday at calls from Britain’s biggest business lobby group for the country to stay in the European customs union after Brexit.

The Confederation of British Industry has said remaining in the customs union after the UK leaves the EU would be a “practical, real-world answer” to its profound challenges.

Hitting back on Twitter, Johnson said it made “no sense” for the CBI to keep calling for Britain to be part of the customs bloc.

He added Prime Minister Theresa May had been clear in her keynote speech in Florence, Italy in September that Britain would be leaving both the EU single market and customs union.

He cited the part of May’s speech in which she said Britain could not stay in either grouping because Brussels had made it clear that the country could not be members and limit immigration from the EU.

The bloc’s freedom of movement rules were a major factor in Britain’s

May

referendum decision in favour of leaving.

“Brexit means taking control of laws, borders, money, and trade. I’m confident British business can profit from the new opportunities,” Johnson wrote.

“Staying in the customs union means effectively staying in the EU: the EU is a customs union. It means no new free trade deals, no new export opportunities, and no leading role in the WTO (World Trade Organization).”

In a speech on Monday, CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn is expected to set out why the group believes a post-Brexit customs union is best for British business.

She will say time is running out and businesses urgently need decisions to protect British jobs and growth, according to extracts released Sunday.

In related news, the British government believes the question of whether it alone can stop Brexit is irrelevant, since it does not intend to change its mind about leaving the European Union, according to its response to a legal challenge by Scottish lawmakers opposed to Brexit.

In a court document seen by Reuters, Theresa May’s government submitted its legal response to the challenge filed by a group of anti-Brexit Scottish lawmakers at Scotland’s Court of Session, its supreme civil court. Now the court must decide within a two-week period whether a full hearing should be called.

The petitioners seek to show that Britain can, if the case arises, change its mind about leaving the world’s biggest trading bloc and do so alone. They say if that were the case, Britain’s bargaining position would be strengthened because it would not have to kowtow to the demands of the other 27 EU members to rejoin.

May formally notified the EU of Britain’s intention to leave by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on March 29 last year, starting a two-year exit process.