Dozen ministers desert May on customs

AT LEAST a dozen members of Theresa May’s Cabinet are lining up to block her plans for a new “customs partnership” with the European Union, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Two pro-Remain ministers told this newspaper they were among a growing number of figures around the Cabinet table who opposed the proposals described by Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, as “crazy”.

This newspaper has now established that 12 out of a total of 28 individuals who sit in Cabinet alongside Mrs May oppose her favoured plans for Britain’s post-Brexit customs relationship with the EU. However, government sources believe the total could be as high as 15.

The disclosure, which is likely to unnerve the Prime Minister and Julian Smith, her Chief Whip, comes after Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, and Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, became the first Remain voters to switch sides to join Brexiteer opposition to the plans, in a meeting of the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-comittee.

The full Cabinet is significantly weighted in favour of those who supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 referendum, leading Mrs May’s allies to believe until now that she could obtain formal approval for the plans despite objections by six out of 11 members of her Brexit sub-committee. In other developments:

This newspaper can disclose that pro-Leave ministers, including three from outside the sub-committee, gathered for a dinner less than a fortnight ago at which they voiced objections to the customs partnership plan;

A Whitehall source said fears that Mrs May’s plan would hamper Britain’s ability to strike trade deals with nonEU countries were already being played out, adding: “Several potential important partners have said, ‘why would we do this’?” Another source said US officials found the plan “laughable”;

Mrs May also faced warnings from grassroots Tories over the proposals, with senior activists warning in a letter to The Sunday Telegraph that the party “will not be trusted for a generation” if she “fudges” Brexit;

And amid a mounting campaign of opposition by Brexiteers in the Government and Parliament, Mrs May issued a declaration that she could be trusted to deliver a good deal.

Last week Mrs May ordered the two factions to find ways to solve the problems identified with each of the two customs plans by their critics, in an attempt to form a consensus.

Mrs May supported plans for a customs partnership, under which Britain would collect tariffs on behalf of the EU and companies would have to claim back rebates to benefit from any lower rates on goods that end up in this country. Senior Brexiteers backed a so-called “maximum facilitation” solution, which would combine “trusted trader” schemes with technology and

exemptions for small businesses. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, and five other members of the Brexit sub-committee opposed Mrs May’s customs partnership, which Brexiteers say would prevent free trade deals being struck and would prove to be a “Trojan horse for a customs union”.

Proponents of Mrs May’s favoured plan insist the Brexiteers’ alternative would result in a “hard border” with Ireland and would therefore be unworkable.

But last night one Remain-voting Cabinet minister who said they opposed the partnership plan warned: “There is a body of people who thought it was best to remain but who think if we’re leaving we should do it properly.”

Another former Remainer Cabinet figure said: “I’m not going to support the customs partnership. My view is you are either in a customs union or you’re out. A fudge doesn’t work.

“I was on the side of Remain because I was of the view that the benefits outweighed the costs, but I’m really not in favour of taking all the costs with none of the benefits. The advantage of leav- ing is having an independent trade policy.” Five pro-Leave ministers – Mr Davis, Mr Johnson, Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, and Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary – had dinner together 13 days ago in Ms Leadsom’s office. They held talks over prosecco and a takeaway from Leon, the fast food chain, amid evening votes on the Government’s energy price cap Bill.

As well as voicing opposition to a customs partnership, those present expressed concerns at the progress of negotiations and the fact that the Government had yet to steer key Brexit legislation through Parliament, a source said. There was “broad agreement” on each of the issues, the source added.

In a letter to this newspaper, Tory activists, led by Ed Costelloe, the chair- man of the Grassroots Conservatives group, also raise concerns about recent votes in the Lords to hand power over the negotiations to Parliament, and to keep Britain in the single market.

They state: “The Prime Minister and the Lords will be playing with fire if they frustrate the will of the people.”

Today, writing in a national newspaper, Mrs May states: “You can trust me to deliver. I will ensure that we take back control of our borders ... I will ensure that we take back control of our money ... I will ensure that we take back control of our laws.”

‘I’m not going to support the customs partnership. My view is you are either in a customs union or you’re out’