BREXIT CABINET DEADLOCK OVER CUSTOMS ROW
May still in mire after 3hr talks
CRUNCH Cabinet talks ended in deadlock last night as warring Tories failed to thrash out the Government’s plan for a postBrexit customs arrangement.
Theresa May summoned her top team to No10 in an attempt to hammer out a blueprint for avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic – the UK’s only land frontier with the EU.
Mrs May is trying to avoid making a final decision to avoid resignations, amid claims one or all of the “three Brexiteers” – David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox – could quit if she chooses a softer option.
The PM insisted there were “a number of ways” to find a solution to a new customs deal. Her spokesman admitted: “Ideas are obviously evolving as we go along.”
Mrs May has vowed to quit the existing customs union and ruled out forming another.
The Government previously put forward two options – a customs partnership under which Britain would collect tariffs on behalf of the EU or a “maximum facilitation” arrangement using new technology to avoid the need for border checks. The first plan was ridiculed and branded unworkable by Brexiteers while critics of the second said the technology does not exist. Mrs May was said to have asked for “revised proposals” after the three-hour meeting ended in deadlock. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Home Secretary Sajid Javid raised “significant” and “grave concerns” about the customs partnership idea, the BBC said. Shadow Brexit Minister Paul Blomfield said: “The Tories appear more interested in squabbling amongst themselves than acting in the national interest.”
Tories seem to be just squabbling amongst themselves PAUL BLOMFIELD SHADOW BREXIT MINISTER