Staying in any customs union ruled out by No 10
DOWNING Street last night ruled out staying in any form of customs union with the EU in a bid to quell a Brexiteer rebellion.
Theresa May had pledged not to remain in ‘the’ customs union after Britain left the EU, but No 10 had not previously made it clear that the UK will not remain in ‘a’ customs union.
The Government’s modified stance follows warnings by senior Brexiteers that staying in any form of union would leave the UK unable to negotiate trade deals with other countries.
At the weekend, Tory MP Bernard Jenkin urged Mrs May to ignore her Chancellor Philip Hammond and stick to her commitments on leaving the customs union entirely.
Mr Hammond and others have been pushing to stay in ‘a’ customs union, with one idea being to stay in a customs union for goods but not services.
Last night a Downing Street source said: ‘It is not our policy to stay in the customs union. It is not our policy to stay in a customs union.
‘We are categorically leaving the customs union.
‘At home, Brexit is about taking back control of our money, laws and borders. We are going to deliver that.
‘But Brexit is also about the freedom to strike out into the world and sign our own trade deals. We want a good, deep trade deal with the EU and a customs arrangement which are as frictionless as possible. We must also be free to sign those trade deals with the rest of the world.’
But the confusion over the Cabinet’s negotiating stance continued yesterday after two ministers appeared to clash.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that there was far less division in the Cabinet than many Brexit supporters thought – and she insisted they would come forward with proposals which would command broad support in the party.
‘I think that we will arrive at something which suits us all,’ she said. ‘There will be choices to be made within that, but we all want the same thing which is to arrive at a deal which works for the UK.’
Miss Rudd acknowledged it would probably involve some form of cus- toms ‘arrangement’ or ‘partnership’ with the EU, but said Mrs May had an ‘open mind’ as to how that could be achieved.
But Housing Minister Dominic Raab was later asked on Sky News whether he thought Britain would remain in ‘a form of customs union, not the customs union but an arrangement which differs from it but looks quite similar’.
He replied: ‘No, I don’t think we’ll be in any form – at least as conceived in international trade practice – of customs union, because if we were we would have our hands tied in negotiating free trade deals with other parts of the world.’
‘We would have our hands tied’