Gove warns May of the dangers in delaying

Prime Minister urged to hasten efforts to leave customs union, despite doubts over alternatives

THERESA MAY must “crack on” with Brexit to head off any danger of Britain staying in the customs union beyond the end of the transition period, Michael Gove has said.

The Environment Secretary stressed it was “critical” to avoid any extension of the current customs regime, despite widespread doubts about the Government’s ability to deliver an alternative by the end of 2020.

Mr Gove also warned that Britain will end up being a “tax collector” for the EU under Mrs May’s current proposals for a customs partnership, even before a Cabinet working group to improve the plan has had its inaugural meeting.

Mr Gove, one of three senior ministers tasked with revising Mrs May’s preferred option for a customs deal with Brussels, said there were “significant question marks” over it. His comments immediately cast doubt on whether the two working groups set up by the Prime Minister – one for the customs partnership and one for the so-called “Max Fac” option – will be able to make any progress. Each group of three includes two ministers who do not support the option they are exploring.

They will meet for the first time today, then report back to Mrs May’s Brexit “war Cabinet” tomorrow on any progress they have made.

On the BBC’S The Andrew Marr Show, he said: “In delay there lies no plenty, as Shakespeare once said. One of the things that we need to do is to crack on. We have an implementation period that gives us an additional 21 months after we leave the European Union to get everything right. I think the critical thing is to meet that deadline.”

Nick Boles MP, the former skills minister and Mr Gove’s close friend, has suggested that the customs union should be extended until March 2022 to give Britain the time to implement its new customs arrangements, which was widely read as a sign that Mr Gove was of the same view.

However, asked if he was saying there should be “no extension at all in any circumstances”, Mr Gove said: “Yes. My view is I don’t believe in an extension.” Mr Gove will join Liam Fox, his fellow Brexiteer, and David Lidington, a Remainer, today to discuss how to improve the customs partnership option, but only Mr Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, believes in it.

Neither Mr Gove nor Mr Fox have given any indication that they are likely to change their mind about opposing the idea, described by Boris Johnson as “crazy”.

Mr Gove said: “Boris pointed out that because it’s novel, because no model like this exists, there have to be significant question marks over the deliverability of it on time. More than that, what the New Customs Partnership requires the British Government to do is in effect to act as the tax collector and very possibly the effective delivery of regulation for the European Union. It’s my view that the NCP has flaws and they need to be tested.”

At least a dozen Cabinet ministers are opposed to the partnership option, which would see the UK collect tariffs for the EU, because they say there is little to differentiate it from continued membership of the customs union.

Instead, Mr Johnson and other prominent ministers, including David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, are pushing

‘Boris pointed out that because it’s novel, there have to be question marks over the deliverability of it on time’

for “Max Fac” or maximum facilitation, which would rely on technology and trusted trader schemes.

Mrs May insisted in a newspaper article yesterday that she could be “trusted” to deliver Brexit, though there would need to be “compromises” made on both sides.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, warned Tory rebels that if they try to keep Britain in the customs union they will “literally plunge a knife into the heart of Government and particularly to the Prime Minister”.