Cabinet’s Brexit revolt on May customs plan
‘Not what people voted for’
AT LEAST seven Cabinet ministers were in revolt last night over Theresa May’s ‘third way’ on Brexit.
The Prime Minister’s preparations for today’s crunch summit on Brexit were thrown into disarray following a leak of Cabinet papers spelling out plans to keep Britain tied tightly to key EU regulations.
The document said the UK would sign a treaty agreeing to ‘ongoing harmonisation with EU rules on goods’ after Brexit. And it appeared to suggest future trade deals could be limited, saying the arrangement ‘would not allow the UK to accommodate a likely ask from the US in a future trade deal’.
Downing Street angrily denied that Mrs May’s third way would prevent a trade deal with the US. The third way is so called because it is a compromise between a ‘maximum facilitation’ deal backed by Brexiteers, which would reduce customs controls and barriers, and a new customs partnership, which is supported by Remainers.
In a statement last night, the PM said she wanted a deal that ‘allows us to deliver the benefits of Brexit – taking control of our borders, laws and money and signing ambitious new trade deals with countries like the US, Australia and New Zealand’.
But last night seven Cabinet Brexiteers gathered in the Foreign Office to discuss tactics for watering down, or even killing off the PM’s plans.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was joined by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Brexit Secretary David Davis, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt for the talks, which lasted for over an hour.
Downing Street is on alert for Cabinet resignations today, when Mrs May will gather her top team at Chequers in a bid to thrash out an agreement on future relations with the EU.
Ministers will be warned that Britain could be forced into staying in the customs union unless they agree a Brexit compromise today. Yesterday the Government said the key votes will be held in the Commons on July 16 and 17. A Government source said: ‘The truth is, it’s this or the customs union.’
Selected leaks from the policy document said the UK ‘should maintain a common rulebook for all goods, including agri-food’. And it said the UK would keep pace with new EU regulations in these areas after leaving.
The plan would help resolve the Northern Ireland border problem but Eurosceptic MPs said it would wreck hopes of a clean break with the EU.
Leaks also suggested a role for the European Court of Justice (ECJ), albeit at arms length. The document stated: ‘UK courts must follow ECJ jurisprudence where relevant.’
Former Brexit minister David Jones described the proposals as ‘entirely unacceptable’.
He said: ‘I hope and expect the Cabinet to reject them. Quite simply, this is not what people voted for in 2016. This is not Brexit.’ Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, who quit the Government last month to speak out on Brexit, said: ‘We Brexiteers cannot support any deal that restricts our trade with other countries.
‘I need to see the details but from what we are hearing I’d be prepared to vote against this.’
Downing Street said it was ‘categorically untrue’ that the proposals would prevent a US trade deal.
Sources pointed out that the UK would be free to cut tariffs, set quotas and offer deals on the powerful services sector.