Mogg’s blueprint for ‘clean Brexit’
Tory Leavers challenge PM with alternative plan
TORY Eurosceptics plan to turn the tables on Theresa May by publishing a new blueprint for a no-deal Brexit.
Their Clean Brexit policy paper will be presented as a detailed alternative to Mrs May’s Chequers agreement.
It is being drawn up by Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative MPs, and Steve Baker, the former Brexit department minister.
The document, which is expected to be published next month, could harden Eurosceptic opinion in the party, and may become a focal point for opposition to the Chequers agreement among Tory activists at the Conservative Party conference.
The paper will say Britain should attempt to agree a Canadian-style free-trade deal with the EU, which would eliminate tariffs, as long as the EU backs down over the Irish border.
Brussels is demanding that customs checks are imposed between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain – in effect, drawing a new internal border down the Irish sea.
If such a deal cannot be secured, it will say the UK could thrive by adopting World Trade Organisation rules.
ERG members argue that fears of a ‘hard Brexit’ and talk of ‘crashing out’ of the EU are exaggerated, and any economic damage would be felt much more by EU states. The paper will outline the advantages of trading on WTO terms.
An ERG source said ‘lots of great ideas’ would be formalised in the coming weeks. It is intended to become the common position of the group of around 60 Tory MPs.
Writing in The Times, former Tory cabinet minister Lord Lilley – an ERG member – said a Canadian- style deal would be ‘the best outcome’, but that moving to WTO terms would be ‘a good second best’.
‘The Chequers plan is moribund and the agreement offered by the EU in March is unacceptable because the “Irish backstop” means splitting the UK,’ he said. ‘No deal is likely and would be a good second best, making a better deal possible later.’
Downing Street argues that Mrs May’s proposal is the best way to leave the EU while protecting the economy and preserving the Union.
But hardline Eurosceptics claim the plans for a UK-EU free-trade area for goods will force Britain to continue to accept Brussels rules. They say it will also lead to the continued influence of the European Court of Justice over British laws.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is on a tour of EU capitals to push national leaders to accept the Chequers plan, visiting Finland, Latvia, Denmark and the Netherlands.
He will say he wants to ensure strong ties with the UK do not ‘diminish’ after Brexit and warn against letting the continent’s ‘ability to act’ be undermined.
‘In the negotiations to leave the EU our strategic choice is to build a deep and special partnership with the remaining member states,’ he said.
‘We want to safeguard our operational capacity as we leave the EU, and so we have put forward precise, credible proposals that ensure our ability to act is maintained.’