Tory rebel’s Norway plan ridiculed
EU CHIEFS are poised to offer Theresa May a pledge to conclude trade talks with the UK by the end of 2021 in a fresh attempt to break the Brexit deadlock, it emerged last night.
Whitehall officials expect an “exchange of letters” between Westminster and Brussels in the coming days that will set the deadline for the next round of negotiations in the hope of allaying MPs’ fears about the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement.
They hope an explicit signal that a full trade deal can be concluded by the end of the UK’s transition out of EU will demonstrate the controversial “backstop” mechanism – where Northern Ireland alone would still follow some EU rules on things such as food products – need never be used.
Details of the pledge are expected to be unveiled ahead of the Commons Brexit debate starting tomorrow and running up to next Tuesday’s crunch “meaningful vote” on her deal.
But Government insiders fear a letter from the EU alone will not be enough to persuade Eurosceptic Tory MPs to drop their threat to reject the Withdrawal Agreement in the Commons vote and expect the Prime Minister to press for further concessions over the next few days.
Mrs May yesterday said she was continuing to press the EU for “further assurances” about the backstop in her drive to win the backing of MPs for the Withdrawal Bill.
During a visit to a hospital in Liverpool, she said: “In the coming days, what we will set out is not just about the EU but also about what we can do domestically.
Flaws
“So we will be setting out measures which will be specific to Northern Ireland, we will be setting out proposals for a greater role for Parliament… and we are continuing to work on further assurances on further undertakings from the European Union in relation to the concern expressed by parliamentarians.”
On their first day back at Westminster after the Christmas break, a string of Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers signalled renewed determination not to back down.
Sir Bill Cash, chairman of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, said the backstop was “not the whole story by any means” in a list of the deal’s flaws.
Speaking in the Commons, he told ministers: “There are so many aspects to the Agreement which are matters way beyond mere assurances.”
Mrs May was given a warning of more parliamentary hostilities over Brexit yesterday when Labour sources hinted the party could back an amendment seeking to block Treasury cash for no-deal preparations.
A source close to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested the party’s MPs could be instructed to vote for the amendment, tabled by Labour backbencher Yvette Cooper, in a Commons vote today, which has also been backed by some pro-Brussels Tories.
Number 10 last night slapped down digital minister Margot James after she suggested Britain’s exit from the EU would have to be delayed if Mrs May’s deal is rejected.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mrs May “has been very clear on a number of occasions that that is not something we intend to do”. BREXITEERS have blasted a former Tory minister’s plans to make Britain a “rule-taker” after leaving the European Union.
Robert Halfon has written a report with Labour Remainers calling for the UK to stay in the single market after quitting the bloc on March 29.
He says the move, based on the relationship Norway has with the EU, would help to end the deadlock over Brexit. Norway is part of the European Economic Area trade bloc that has access to the EU single market.
But Tory Leavers shredded the “pointless” plan and warned it would leave Britain bound by freedom-ofmovement rules.
Former minister Crispin Blunt said: “It would appear that he doesn’t understand Norway’s relationship with the EU.
“The Norwegian model is not one that the United Kingdom should follow, for lots of reasons.
“It doesn’t deliver the protections the UK needs on trade and immigration and management of our own market in terms of the regulations that that market.
“Those regulations would be applied without the UK having a voice.”
Conservative MP Marcus Fysh said the plan was a “complete waste of time”.
He said: “It doesn’t deliver on control of borders. They claim there is an immigration break on it, but that doesn’t stand up when you examine it.
“It doesn’t deliver control of money, it doesn’t deliver control of laws. We become a rule-taker.
“It remains non-starter.”
aapply to complete