I THOUGHT YOU BRITS WANTED BREXIT!
As Brexit White Paper sparks bitter row, Trump flies in, fresh from shaming Nato, with some typically blunt home truths for Britain
DONALD Trump waded into the Brexit row yesterday, suggesting Theresa May’s Chequers deal was not what the British people had voted for.
As he arrived for a controversial four-day visit, the US President said Britons had voted to ‘break’ from Brussels – but the UK now appeared to be getting ‘back with the European Union’.
The characteristically undiplomatic intervention twisted the knife on a day when the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal was published and immediately torn to shreds by her own MPs.
One said: ‘This is not going to fly. If the Prime Minister does not drop it, it will kill
her.’ On another extraordinary day:
The Commons was briefly suspended amid shambolic scenes as new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab tried to present the White Paper before it had been given to MPs;
Mrs May admitted her plan would be ‘very challenging’ for the EU as she sought to argue it was ‘in no sense a concession to their demands’;
Plotters warned the Prime Minister she could face another round of resignations and claimed party figures were ‘queuing up to volunteer’;
Former Brexit minister Lord Bridges called on the Government ‘to be honest’ about the fact the European Court of Justice would continue to have a role in British law.
Furious Eurosceptics accused Mrs May of recreating the ‘worst parts of the EU’ and said they would not vote for the agreement when it is ultimately put before the Commons.
The long-awaited 98-page document set out detailed proposals for the future relationship with Brussels that would keep Britain subject to rulings of European courts and allow temporary EU workers to come here without needing visas.
It admitted delays to setting up our new customs arrangements mean they might not be in place until 2022 – and it conceded a plan to mirror EU rules on goods could lead to huge fines from Brussels if MPs tried to block unwanted changes.
Boris Johnson, David Davis and several other Tory MPs have already quit the Government
‘I would say Brexit is Brexit’ ‘The worst aspects of the EU’
in protest over the terms of the deal.
Speaking at the Nato summit yesterday, Mr Trump referenced the current ‘turmoil’ in the UK and said he was heading to a country that was ‘a hot spot right now with a lot of resignations’.
Asked whether Britain was taking the right approach to leaving the EU, Mr Trump said: ‘I would say Brexit is Brexit. The people voted to break it up so I would imagine that’s what they would do, but maybe they’re taking a different route – I don’t know if that is what they voted for.’
Mr Trump, one of the few world leaders who backed Brexit, added that it seemed as if the UK was ‘ getting at least partially involved back with the European Union’. And he declared that the British people ‘agree with me on immigration.’
Mrs May hit back, saying: ‘We have come to an agreement on the proposal we’re putting to the European Union which absolutely delivers on the Brexit people voted for. They voted for us to take back control of our money, our law and our borders and that’s exactly what we will do.’
But despite her reassurances, a furious Brexit row exploded at Westminister over the long-awaited White Paper. Jacob Rees-Mogg led Eurosceptics in condemning the document, declaring that it was ‘hard to believe that there is even a tinge of pink left’ in Mrs May’s red lines.
The chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic backbenchers said: ‘It is not be something I would vote for, nor is it what the British people voted for.
‘This is the greatest vassalage since King John paid homage to Phillip II at Le Goulet in 1200,’ he added, referring to widely criticised territorial concessions made by John to the French king.
‘This recreates many of the worst aspects of the EU the British people voted to leave. This does not respect the referendum result.’
Critics last night warned the Prime Minister she would never get the proposals through the Commons. Mrs May’s plan involves the UK accepting a ‘common rulebook’ on trade in goods, with a treaty commitment to ‘ongoing harmonisation’ with EU rules. Ministers have boasted a ‘ parliamentary lock’ will mean that MPs get a say on whether to allow new regulations drawn up by Brussels.
However, the White Paper admits there would be significant consequences if the Commons blocked any rules, including fines or even the collapse of the entire shared rulebook system.
The document claims that the direct jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will end after Brexit, but it sets out how the judges in Luxembourg continue to have influence.
If there is a dispute between the EU and UK over the common rule book, it suggests this could be referred to the ECJ for an interpretation. Mr Davis’s former aide Stewart Jackson tweeted: ‘This is not in any sense maintaining the red line on ECJ direct jurisdiction as the PM well knows.’
Farcical scenes took place in the Commons at the botched launch of the document as Speaker John Bercow was forced to suspend the sitting when it emerged it had not been made available to MPs. Mr Raab was greeted by laughter and jeers as he told MPs: ‘I am confident that a deal is in reach, given the success of the Prime Minister and her negotiating team so far.’
MPs lined up to criticise the proposals. Tory Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash, who chairs the Commons European scrutiny committee, told ministers he was ‘deeply worried’ by the White Paper. He said: ‘We are getting re- entangled with European jurisdiction and rule-taking. It is simply not what people remotely expected or wanted.’
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said he had ‘deep misgivings’ about the White Paper, adding: ‘I voted to leave, not to half leave.’
Fellow Tory Andrew Bridgen said the plan was ‘dead on arrival’. In the Lords, former Brexit minister Lord Bridges said it was apparent from the document that the ECJ ‘would continue to have a role in the laws and regulations of this country in terms of their interpretation’.
Last night, the Prime Minister tried to mend fences with Mr Trump at a black-tie dinner at Blenheim Palace, telling him the UK and US remained ‘not just the closest allies, but the dearest of friends’.
Mrs May, who hopes to use talks with Mr Trump at Chequers today to make progress on a new trade deal, said Brexit presented an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ to work more closely with US.
But Mrs May’s aides are nervous that he will trash her plans during his visit. And they are also concerned that he could meet up with Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson, who he described this week as a ‘great friend.’