UK out of customs union and single market ‘on time’

Politics: Brexit secretary confident of timetable

The UK will leave the EU customs union and single market by March 2019, David Davis has said.

The Brexit secretary expects the UK to have ended the arrangements within the two-year timetable set out under Article 50.

His comments came as Chancellor Philip Hammond repeated his call for a transitional deal to avoid a “disruptive and dangerous cliff edge” in trading links with the EU after Brexit.

But Downing Street sought to shut down public discussion by ministers about the length of any transition or implementation phase.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “The position the prime minister has set out many times hasn’t changed. It’s not in anyone’s interest for there to be a cliff edge.

“We want to give certainty to businesses. That’s the position of David Davis and Philip Hammond also.

“What the prime minister has been clear about is that clearly leaving the EU means we will be leaving the customs union.”

Addressing businessmen, the Brexit secretary said he believed exit talks would be done by the twoyear deadline.

Asked if the UK would be straight out of the customs union, he replied: “I would have thought so.”

Mr Davis said any transition period was likely to end in 2022.

He said he was “entirely aligned” with the chancellor on putting jobs and prosperity first.

“I firmly believe that our approach puts jobs and prosperity first. So much so I didn’t even think it was necessary to say it at the beginning,” he said.

Mr Davis said there would be “practically no burden” on businesses under the government’s plan to extend rights to EU citizens already living in the UK.

He added: “My job is to bring back control of migration to Westminster. It is not to slam the door on immigration.

“We will bring immigration down but in a way and at a pace that does not cause labour shortages or undermine the nation’s need for new talent.”

Mr Hammond, speaking in Berlin, insisted there had to be a “smooth and orderly path” to new arrangements under any Brexit deal.

Although he did not put a timescale on the transitional process, Mr Hammond said: “(Businesses) all need certainty, well ahead of time, that they won’t have tariffs suddenly imposed on them part-way through their contracts, or that their shipments won’t face customs delays.”