May and Merkel meet before crunch talks

PM tells German Chancellor she hopes summit will accelerate negotiations

Theresa May has told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she hopes a crunch Cabinet away day will allow her to up the pace of Brexit negotiations as senior Conservatives showed more signs of rebellion.

Senior ministers have publicly disagreed about the UK Government’s strategy for leaving the European Union as the exit date of March 29 moves closer.

Downing Street was last night forced to deny that the post-Brexit relationship with the EU envisaged by Mrs May would make a trade deal with the US impossible. It came as reports suggested the prime minister will concede today that plans to align the UK with EU regulations on goods and agriculture make a US deal unlikely.

American commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has warned that a failure by the UK to break away from EU food safety rules in areas such as GM crops and chlorinated chicken would get in the way of a successful trade agreement.

Papers circulated to ministers ahead of today’s crunch meeting at Chequers are reported to recommend that the UK should maintain a “common rulebook” with the EU for all goods, including agricultural and food products. The proposals, if confirmed, are likely to infuriate eurosceptic members of her Cabinet such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis. Eurosceptic former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson said that, if true, the plans would represent “a complete breach of Theresa May’s manifesto commitment... to leave (the) single market, customs union and European Court of Justice”.

During a visit to Berlin, Mrs May told Ms Merkel she hoped today’s gettogether at Chequers would lead to an increase in the “pace and intensity” of UK-EU negotiations.

The German leader replied that Brexit talks were at a “crucial phase” and insisted a political framework for future relations needed to be clear by October.

There are differing views within the Cabinet about how closely the UK should stick to EU rules after Brexit, and what compromises should be made to achieve “as frictionless as possible” trade.

But Brexiteer Cabinet minister Michael Gove insisted that a “united position” would be reached at the away day as he played down speculation that the likes of Mr Johnson could quit if there was perceived to be backsliding over the break from Brussels.

The rows came as Scottish ministers submitted their own “realistic and workable” Brexit proposals to the UK Government, including plans to retain membership of the European single market and its customs union.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said “the time is fast approaching for the prime minister to face down those who would take us over the cliff edge” by backing a so-called soft Brexit.

Picture: AP. Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel prior to a meeting in the Chancellery in Berlin.