Brexit’s going soft
FROM BAD TO WURST MAY FACES CLIMBDOWN
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THE cabinet is at war over its Brexit battle plan just days before talks are due to begin.
Prime Minister Theresa May is determined to forge ahead with her hard EU-exit blueprint.
But Chancellor Philip Hammond wants the UK to stay in the customs union, in a bid to soften the divorce.
He believes this would safeguard jobs and trade with the remaining 27 countries in the bloc.
However, this option would drastically restrict Britain’s ability to make its own global bargains.
Mr Hammond wants ministers to re-think independent trade policy as the Treasury gets into “streetfighting mode”.
Cabinet MPs “want to secure a very different relationship with the EU,” a senior Tory Brexiteer revealed.
Former PM David Cameron weighed in, calling on Mrs May to listen to Labour and other parties’ demands.
He said: “There will be pressure for a softer Brexit.” Veteran Tory Ken Clarke added: “The national interest calls for a cross-party approach.” He said Mrs May is confronted with a “bigger test than any Prime Minister has faced” during his 47 years in Parliament.
Nigel Farage, in Brussels yesterday, says he is considering running for the Ukip leadership for the fourth time after the resignation of Paul Nuttall.
He would step back into politics if he senses any “backsliding” over the UK leaving the European Union, he vowed.
There have even been calls for Mr Farage to get a government job through a role in the House of Lords.
The Welsh Government is calling for a major “constitutional reconstruction” of the UK to meet the challenges Brexit poses.
First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones will launch a policy paper today which states: “Withdrawal from the EU represents an existential challenge to the UK itself.”
Formal Brexit talks are due to start on Monday. Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, who was honoured for his efforts to save Pc Keith Palmer after the Westminster terror attack, is to take up a post in the Ministry of Defence. Mr Ellwood tweeted: “Delighted and honoured.”