The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Fears jobs at risk unless customs deal is agreed
Door open to extension to transition period on customs with the EU
Thousands of British jobs depend on frictionless trade with Europe, Business Secretary Greg Clark stressed as he said the controversial “customs partnership” plan was still on the table.
He also opened the door to extending a transition period on customs with the EU until a new arrangement was in place as Tory wrangling continued over how to replace the system after Brexit.
Mr Clark said it could be a case of implementing a new customs arrangement “as soon as you can do”, as he acknowledged a new regime may not be ready by the end of 2020 when the proposed transition period expires.
The business secretary was part of the Brexit “war cabinet” which failed to reach agreement on whether to back the hybrid customs partnership – which would see the UK collect import duties on behalf of the EU for goods arriving via British ports and airports – or the so-called “maximum facilitation” model relying on the use of technology to minimise checks at the border.
Brexiteers have rejected the customs partnership, claiming it would keep the UK too closely tied to Brussels and Mrs May’s inner war cabinet is thought to have lined up six-five against it, despite the prime minister and Mr Clark backing the model.
The business secretary denied being close to tears as he spoke at Wednesday’s meeting but admitted “I do feel very strongly” about it, before highlighting the importance of having a customs deal with “the minimum of frictions” to firms operating a just-in-time production line.
He said Toyota, which employs 3,500 people at plants in North Wales and Derbyshire, was deciding where its next plant should be in Europe.
The nature of the business meant “50% of the parts come from out of the country” every hour, day and night and the customs partnership model means being able to “import them without any checks at the border, without any paperwork”.
Asked if the transition could be extended until Britain was ready, he said: “It wouldn’t be a question of extending the transition.
“It would be, as it were, implementing as soon as you can do...there will be different parts that can be done immediately. There will be things that will take more time.”
Business groups the British Chambers of Commerce and the CBI welcomed his comments, saying it was important to maintain the status quo on frictionless trade until an arrangement is in place.
But Brexiteers maintained their opposition to the customs partnership.
In a sign of the divisions at the top of government, a Cabinet source said: “Greg appears to be re-fighting the referendum, this is Project Fear 3.0.”
A Downing Street source dismissed as “nonsense” suggestions Mr Clark’s appearance and the support from pro-EU Tories and business organisations had been orchestrated from Number 10.