EU backs Canada-style trade deal with UK
THE European Union has warned that Theresa May’s Chequers plan is “dead” and is urging her to adopt a Canadastyle deal favoured by Boris Johnson, according to Eurosceptic Tory MPS.
Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, “made clear” to MPS on the Brexit select committee that the Chequers plan is “not acceptable” during a meeting in Brussels yesterday.
MPS who were present said that Mr Barnier proposed an “alternative” postbrexit plan based upon the EU’S free trade deal with Canada.
Eurosceptics including Mr Johnson and David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, have repeatedly called for a Canada-style deal which will allow the UK to sign trade deals with third countries.
They are deeply opposed to Mrs May’s deal, signed off with her Cabinet at her Chequers country home, that keeps the UK closely tied to the EU and could restrict Britain’s ability to agree trade deals.
John Whittingdale, a Conservative member of the Brexit select committee, told LBC: “What he did come forward with was an alternative which he was working on – which was based upon a free-trade agreement such as the one signed with Canada”.
Separately, it emerged that Germany has started to prepare for a no-deal Brexit by hiring new customs staff. One German foreign official told Stuttgarter Zeitung: “The government is preparing for all possibilities related to (Britain’s) exit.” Mr Barnier’s opposition to Cheq- uers received short shrift from Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, who said: “He doesn’t know an awful lot about British politics.”
In the Commons, Sir Christopher Chope, another Tory MP at the meeting, told Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, that he wanted to “counsel him against self-delusion”.
Sir Christopher said: “None of us who was present listening to Mr Barnier yesterday could be in any doubt that he understands perfectly what is involved in the Chequers arrangements.
“He rejects without any qualification the facilitated customs arrangements and also the common rule book, and so why doesn’t (Mr Raab) accept his getout clause and chuck Chequers now?” Mr Raab said his team had received “a wide range of positive and constructive feedback” in more than 60 engagements with European counterparts since the Chequers plan was published.
He added: “He [Sir Christopher] is right that the Commission and Michel Barnier have raised concerns around some aspects of the economic partnership. Equally, we’ve had positive feedback from member states and we’re confident that as we work through these proposals they provide an enduring solution to the challenges we face and the EU face and that’s what we’re pursuing.”
Separately, the GMB union put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, by saying that it now supported a new Brexit vote, after consulting thousands of its members. That came as new research found that fewer than one in five voters now expect Britain to get a good deal out of Brexit talks.