May: Brexit deal within our grasp
THERESA MAY has declared that final agreement on Brexit is “within our grasp” following a breakthrough agreement on future relations between the UK and EU.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street yesterday, the Prime Minister said a political declaration on post-Brexit relations agreed with Brussels is “the right plan for the UK” which will set the country on course for a brighter future.
She later told the House of Commons that the deal held out the prospect of a zero-tariff free trade area with the EU of a kind the bloc had never previously offered.
And she said: “The British people want Brexit to be settled, they want a good deal that sets us on a course for a brighter future, and they want us to come together as a country and to move on to focus on the big issues at home, like our NHS.
“The deal that will enable us to do this is now within our grasp. In these crucial 72 hours ahead, I will do everything possible to deliver it for the British people.”
As she addressed MPs, it emerged that a late change to the UK’s draft withdrawal agreement would allow the 21-month transition period after Brexit day to be extended beyond the expected date of the next general election in June 2022.
The agreement offers the possibility of a one-off extension “for up to one or two years”. This could mean the transitional period – during which the UK must follow Brussels regulations while having no say over them – could stretch until the end of December 2022, six months after the election date and six and a half years after the 2016 referendum.
The draft declaration was agreed in principle yesterday morning, after negotiators worked through the night on new directions issued by Mrs May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker when they met in Brussels.
The breakthrough cleared the way for a special summit in Brussels on Sunday, at which leaders of the remaining 27 EU states are expected to give their stamp of approval to both the future framework and a separate withdrawal agreement setting out the terms of the UK’s departure.
Agreement on the text was announced by European Council president Donald Tusk, who said in a tweet: “I have just sent to EU27 a draft Political Declaration on the Future Relationship between EU and UK.
“The Commission President has informed me that it has been agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level.”
Downing Street has always stressed that the 585-page legally binding withdrawal agreement setting out the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU – including a “divorce bill” estimated at £39 billion – can only be finalised alongside the shorter declaration setting out the two sides’ aspirations for their future relations.
Mrs May will hope that the prospect of an ambitious free trade deal set out in the 26-page declaration will win over some rebellious Conservative MPs.