... and what her speech really meant
NO CUSTOMS UNION
WHAT SHE SAID: ‘A customs union would mean the EU setting the UK’s external tariffs. It would mean we had less control than we do now over our trade in the world. Neither Leave nor Remain voters would want that.’
WHAT SHE MEANT: Whatever your view of Brexit, this is a terrible idea. In a sop to Remainers, Jeremy Corbyn this week proposed a new UK-EU customs union. As with her red lines on ending free movement and leaving the single market, Mrs May sticks to her guns, while explaining why his proposal would make trade deals around the world all but impossible.
YES TO CHERRY PICKING
WHAT SHE SAID: ‘The fact is that every free trade agreement has varying market access depending on the respective interests of the countries involved. If this is cherry-picking, then every trade arrangement is cherry-picking.’
WHAT SHE MEANT: The EU’s constant mantra has been that the UK cannot ‘cherry pick’ the best parts of EU membership. Mrs May’s powerful retort is that all deals, including those the EU has signed with Ukraine and Canada involved exactly that.
TRADE OFFS
WHAT SHE SAID: ‘If the Parliament of the day decided not to achieve the same outcomes as EU law, it would be in the knowledge that there may be consequences for our market access.’ WHAT SHE MEANT: A clear acceptance that if Britain tries to undercut Brussels by changing regulations after we leave, the EU would have the right to hit
back. On goods trading, Mrs May is accepting Britain will keep to similar rules to the EU in return for an open relationship, and will not subsidise industries. But she makes clear that after we leave, it will be up to Parliament to decide what to do next.
BACK OFF ON NORTHERN IRELAND
WHAT SHE SAID: ‘Just as it would be unacceptable to go back to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, it would also be unacceptable to break up the United Kingdom’s own common market by creating a customs and regulatory border down the Irish Sea.’
WHAT SHE MEANT: Your plan for Northern Ireland hasn’t got a hope in hell. This week the EU attempted to use the province as a pawn in the negotiations, insisting it must remain in the customs union after Brexit while the rest of the UK leaves. Mrs May is ruling out this attack on the UK’s constitutional integrity.
THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET
WHAT SHE SAID: ‘We have a shared interest in getting this right. Let’s get on with it’.
WHAT SHE MEANT: Stop the foot dragging, political posturing and sabre-rattling and start negotiating in earnest. Infuriated by EU intransigence, Mrs May offers a detailed blueprint of our postBrexit relationship, an optimistic vision of the future and urges EU leaders to meet her halfway. With the clock ticking, the question now is: how will they respond?