Tory remainers in free movement plot
Labour plan for ‘coalition of common sense’ to keep Britain inside the European Economic Area
At least 15 Tory MPS are in talks with Labour about staying signed up to free movement after Brexit. The MPS could back a plan to keep the UK in the European Economic Area, which would require the country to accept unlimited numbers of migrants from within the EU. Stephen Kinnock, a senior Labour MP, said he was seeking to form a “coalition of common sense”.
AT least 15 Conservative MPS are in talks with Labour about a deal which could keep Britain signed up to free movement after Brexit, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The Tory MPS could back a plan to keep the UK in the European Economic Area (EEA), which could require Britain to accept unlimited numbers of migrants from within the EU.
The news came as the Government published legislation which will repatriate thousands of Brussels powers to London after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. It allows for the creation of 10 quangos to replace existing EU institutions and will ensure that the UK Supreme Court is no longer subject to EU case law. The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill – dubbed the Great Repeal Bill – was denounced by the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones, as a “naked power grab” because it does not immediately return EU powers to devolved administrations.
The Liberal Democrats also warned the Government faces “hell” over the Bill, and a “political nightmare” that could cost Theresa May her job as Prime Minister. Their strong statements underlined the fierce battles over the Bill in which a handful of Tory rebels could force the Government – which has a working majority of just 12 in the House of Commons – to change the legislation.
Stephen Kinnock, a senior Labour MP, said he was seeking to form a “coalition of common sense” to keep the UK in the EEA. He said: “I have been reaching out with a particular proposal to 15 Conservative MPS so far.
“There is a growing recognition now in the economy … that getting the right transitional deal is now the top priority.
“What we need to do is to form a coalition of common sense to secure in particular a sensible pragmatic transi- tion deal which in my opinion should be based on the EEA. It is a sensible half way house to give our economy the certainty it so desperately needs.”
He added: “The case for the EEA is three-fold. It buys us time to negotiate the final state deal with the EU, it delivers certainty for business and workers, and it allows us to reform freedom of movement.”
The news was condemned by Sir Bill Cash, the Eurosceptic MP who told Mr Kinnock on the Telegraph’s latest Brexit podcast that the EEA was “not the right model at all”.
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said Labour would not support the Repeal Bill in its current form and demanded concessions in six areas.
These included incorporating the charter into UK law, ensuring workers’ rights in the UK do not fall behind those in the EU and limiting the scope of so-called “Henry VIII powers”, which could allow the Government to alter legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny. Up to 1,000 pieces of secondary legislation, known as statutory instruments, are likely to be brought forward under the powers.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said: “The Government does not have a majority in Parliament, it does not have a mandate to do what it likes in Parliament. Parliament must be consulted and be able to decide on these issues.”
But David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, denied there was a power grab and said MPS would be able to hold votes if they wanted to on any of the statutory instruments in the Repeal Bill. Mr Davis also told the BBC that half of his job was running the contingency planning operation in case Brexit talks failed.
That came as a leading trade lawyer said that Britain could negotiate a trade deal “very quickly” with the US by the end of 2020. Victoria Hewson, a counsel at the Legatum Institute’s Special Trade Commission, said: “There are a lot of scare stories around that it takes on average seven years to negotiate a trade deal – that is just not true. In fact the global average is 28 months to negotiate a trade deal.”
There were around 10 trade deals – including those with Chile and Turkey – which were “really important” to Britain’s economic interests, she added.
The Royal College of Radiologists has said that pulling out of Euratom – the European civil nuclear regulator – could hit the supply and transport of radioactive isotopes widely used in scans and other treatment. But Roger Cashmore, the chairman of the UK’S Atomic Energy Authority, said Britain could become an “associate member” of Euratom after Brexit.
Asked if one of the options for Euratom is “associate membership”, Mr Davis told the BBC: “Some sort of relationship. The point to be clear about this is that it does not require the oversight of the European Court. If it did, then we’d find another mechanism.”