Davis leads Cabinet revolt over May’s EU ‘ stitch- up’
‘Boris and Gove are right behind him’
DAVID DAVIS is leading a Cabinet revolt over plans by No 10 to strike a deal with Brussels that Brexiteer Tories say would be a ‘betrayal’.
The Brexit Secretary objects to plans by Downing Street to stay in a customs ‘partnership’ with the EU that would allow the UK to strike trade deals around the world – but collect import tariffs on behalf of Brussels.
Mr Davis is understood to have told No 10 that the idea is unworkable and would be greeted with fury by many Tory MPs. He is believed to be supported by other Cabinet Ministers, i ncluding Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. And Mr Davis is publicly backed today by one former Government Minister, who argues that the plan could lead to the ‘complete derailment’ of Brexit.
David Jones, who was a Brexit Minister under Theresa May, writes below that the idea is ‘a Byzantine scheme designed first to slow down Brexit and then to strangle it’.
The ‘partnership’ customs plan is being pushed by Oliver Robbins, t he Prime Minister’s Brexit adviser at No 10, in an attempt to break a deadlock in negotiations with Brussels over the Irish border. The British team has been struggling to find a way in which the UK can leave the EU customs union – as Mrs May has promised – without having a hard border in Ireland.
But Mr Jones said: ‘I speak for many Tory MPs when I say that whatever the consequences, we could never vote for it.’
It was reported last week that the customs ‘ partnership’ was one of several options already rejected by Brussels. However, Brexiteer Tory MPs fear this is just a negotiating device to force the UK to accept close customs ties after Brexit.
Mrs May will face further pressure on the issue this week when MPs debate a motion aimed at forcing a vote.
Three Tory Commons select committee chairs – Bob Neill, Nicky Morgan and Sarah Wollaston – are among the signatories to the motion, which urges the Government to ‘ include as an objective in negotiations... the establishment of an effective customs union’.
Last night, a spokesman for Mr Davis said: ‘We have put sensible and practical solutions on the table and are working construc- tively towards getting this solved by October .’ A source said: ‘David knows that Boris, Gove and a large chunk of the party won’t buy it. It’s not even as if they are mad on it in Brussels – they find the idea of a third party collecting their tariffs distinctly odd.’
A senior Brussels source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The consensus EU view is that we won’t move forward with the negotiations until we have a clear idea as to whether there is British parliamentary support for leaving the customs union.
‘We don’t think there is – that sentiment is changing and you will end up staying in.’