May facing Cabinet war over special deal for EU immigrants
THERESA May is braced for a Cabinet clash over immigration today after ruling that anyone arriving from the European Union after Brexit should not get special treatment.
Whitehall sources were last night predicting resistance to the Prime Minister’s proposal from Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark, who believe Britain could secure a better trade deal with Brussels if future EU migrants are offered rights not given to those from other parts of the world.
Mrs May is also expected to face a battle over plans for a clampdown on low-skilled migration following Brexit next year, which some fear could damage the economy.
The row comes as Mrs May is under renewed pressure over Brexit, as former Brexit Secretary David Davis and ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who quit the Cabinet when she revealed her Chequers plan in July, are due to unveil what they have called their ‘Plan A+’ for leaving the European Union.
This is based on a Canada-style freetrade deal that would see Britain apply European Union rules for goods and agriculture but would not include free movement of people between EU members and UK.
The Prime Minister will use a special meeting of the Cabinet today to try to shore up support for her Chequers proposals ahead of what allies admit will be a ‘difficult’ party conference next week.
Downing Street yesterday stamped on reports that Mrs May is considering another snap election in November to break the Brexit deadlock, saying: ‘It is categorically untrue.’
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday said that Mrs May’s Chequers plan remained the only credible option at present, despite its mauling by EU leaders last week.
‘We’ve come up with a serious set of proposals, 100 pages long, our White Paper, covering everything from trade to security,’ he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
‘We’re not just going to flit from plan to plan like some sort of diplomatic butterfly, we’re going to be resolute about this and really press the EU to treat us with some respect.
‘And also, on the substance, to engage properly.’
Mr Raab yesterday left the door open on a Canada-style free-trade deal with the EU, but only if Brussels backed down on its demand for a ‘backstop’ plan that would see Northern Ireland remain in the customs union after Brexit if no other solution can be found for the Irish border problem.
He said the idea was off the table because of the EU position ‘at this stage’, but he was always ready to listen to ‘new proposals and new ideas’. ‘It’s off the table in the terms that the EU would even plausibly at this stage at least accept,’ he said. ‘Because what they’re suggesting is that we would stay in a backstop arrangement for Northern Ireland, which would leave a part of the United Kingdom subject to a wholly different economic regime.
‘That can’t be right. So we’ll continue to negotiate in good faith. And I’m always listening to new proposals and new ideas.’
Mrs May was left livid last week after EU president Donald Tusk used a meeting of leaders in Salzburg to rule that the Chequers plan ‘will not work’. In a defiant statement on Friday, Mrs May said she would not back down and urged the EU to show Britain some ‘respect’.
Mr Raab yesterday accused the EU of adopting a ‘computer says no’ attitude to the negotiations – and warned that Britain was preparing to leave without a deal unless Brussels started to engage seriously.
Today, he will publish the latest tranche of technical notices setting out contingency plans for a no deal Brexit.
These will include a warning that travellers wanting to take their pets to the EU could have to register up to three months in advance. Holidaymakers wanting to drive on the continent could also have to apply for a ‘green card’ in advance.
‘We’re going to be resolute about this’