We must not play by the EU’s stifling rules

We are at a critical point in the process of leaving the EU. British politics is polarising and, as the local elections showed, the Tories are relying more than ever on pro-Brexit votes. At the same time the Government’s negotiations are floundering. The clock is ticking, the EU is upping the ante, and yet the British side continues to dither on the fundamentals. We still don’t know what immigration system the Government wants after we leave, and senior civil servants and Remainers haven’t given up on keeping us in the Customs Union – de facto if not de jure. The disconnect between what voters want and what so many MPs and members of the establishment intend to do widens daily.

Theresa May is undoubtedly in a very tight spot, but she mustn’t allow those who want to bog Britain down in a permanent no man’s land to win. She must abandon her idea of a customs partnership, regardless of the consequences on the current phase of Brexit talks. The scheme under discussion is over complicated, would hit small businesses hard, force Britain to swallow the EU’s regulations (and police them on its behalf), and keep the tariff barrier in place. It would make it much harder for us to strike free trade agreements, which is one of the key upsides of Brexit.

The debate over a customs partnership is turning into a test of which Conservatives truly “get” Brexit. The opposition of ministers who campaigned for Leave – Liam Fox, Michael Gove, David Davis and Boris Johnson – is good. Doubly welcome, however, has been the input of Gavin Williamson and especially Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary. The two men voted Remain, but have listened to the electorate and realise that overturning the referendum result would have catastrophic political and social consequences. Ministers who see the flaws in the customs partnership model must hold firm and fight on against it. Here is an opportunity to break free of the EU’s petty rules and redefine Britain as economically liberal and open to the world. There is no future whatsoever for a Tory party that botches Brexit.