Raab: Drop the backstop or UK will leave on time
THE UK must not agree to extend the Brexit transition period unless the EU ditches its demand for a backstop, the Brexit Secretary suggests today.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph,
Dominic Raab said an option floated by Theresa May of the UK remaining tied to the EU beyond December 2020 would only be an “alternative” to the insurance plan insisted on by Brussels.
His intervention will be welcomed by pro-Brexit MPs, who reacted with fury to the Prime Minister’s suggestion that the Government could offer to extend the transition period “by a few months” as well as agreeing to a backstop.
Brussels has insisted a fallback mechanism is necessary to protect Northern Ireland from a hard border if negotiations for the future relationship with the EU break down. The suggestion it could be ditched entirely is likely to infuriate EU negotiators.
It comes as Mrs May faces growing pressure from MPs and the Cabinet over apparent concessions discussed between British and EU negotiators.
Three Cabinet sources told this newspaper that ministers must now play a greater role in negotiations after the Cabinet blocked an indefinite version of the backstop, which could have tied the country to EU rules without a time limit or exit clause.
One said: “No one wants a repeat of the last few days and it is best to avoid that to have as much Cabinet involvement as possible.”
In other developments: Protesters seeking a fresh referendum on the final Brexit deal marched in a rally in central London that the People’s Vote campaign claimed was attended by 700,000 people.
Lord Lilley, Margaret Thatcher’s trade secretary, accused Downing Street of a “flagrant statistical deception” in the figures used to sell the Chequers blueprint. He has reported the “serious misrepresentation” to the statistics watchdog, stating that had it been made by a drugs company, “the company’s boss would probably go to jail”.
A poll found that Conservative voters would opt for the UK walking away without a deal, over the Chequers proposals. According to the IQR survey, the first preference of 17 per cent of Tories was now for a no-deal Brexit, compared with 9 per cent who favour the Chequers deal.
Mrs May is facing an open rebellion by Tory MPs this week as Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, tabled amendments to the Northern Ireland bill that would prevent the region being kept tied more closely to EU rules than the rest of the union under the backstop plan. The amendments could be backed by the DUP.
Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, said he was “invincibly” certain the UK would regain control over fishing rights in December 2020.
Ten days ago, Mrs May was challenged by at least six Cabinet ministers over the need for a time limit on the
backstop, which would keep the UK in the EU’s customs arrangements after the transition period is due to end in December 2020.
Ministers have questioned why a plan without a time limit was being entertained by Oliver Robbins, the Prime Minister’s negotiator. Yesterday, three former mandarins attacked Brexiteers for their criticism of Mr Robbins, whose work is overseen by Mrs May and Gavin Barwell, her chief of staff.
Last week, the Prime Minister said that extending the transition period for a “few months” was being considered to help unlock an agreement over the backstop. Mrs May believed the extra time could persuade Brussels that a deal could be signed before it ended, making it unlikely the backstop would even be used.
Today, Mr Raab states: “The Prime Minister has rightly refused to rule out considering different approaches – including extending the implementation period, as an alternative to the backstop.
“But we won’t sacrifice Northern Ireland, and we must have finality to any backstop – whether through a time limit or a mechanism that enables the UK to leave, in case the EU doesn’t live up to its promise to get the future relationship in place swiftly.”
Mr Raab also talked up the possibility of the Government walking away without a deal if the EU refused to meet UK demands over the backstop.
The Prime Minister wants the whole of the UK to remain in a customs union during the backstop period, while the EU has suggested that only Northern Ireland should remain, creating a bor- der in the Irish Sea. Mr Raab says: “Proposals to carve up the economic regime that binds the UK are doubly irresponsible given separatist pressures on the continent – and are hardly a compelling advert for a political club that stands for unity. History will not look kindly on the EU if it precipitates no deal on these grounds.”
Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group, questioned why the UK was having to seek a further mechanism to exit EU rules when Article 50 should have been enough. “Article 50 is the mechanism for leaving the EU, including the customs union,” he said. “Now all that is required is a final date.”
Also, in a letter to Sir David Norgrove, Lord Lilley, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, takes issue with a claim in the Chequers White Paper that 96 per cent of “UK goods trade” would be unaffected by a proposed system under which Britain would collect customs tariffs on behalf of the EU.
He describes the figure as an “egregious deception” as the proportion is of all goods imports, including those from within the EU – for which the UK would not have to collect tariffs anyway.
Last night Johnny Mercer, a backbench Tory MP, issued a call to arms for MPs to oust Mrs May. Writing in The Sunday Times, he said that the party could not be led by someone guilty of an “abject failure to govern”.
The IQR poll found that 33 per cent of Tory voters would prefer a Canadastyle trade deal advocated by Boris Johnson and David Davis. IQR carried out the survey for Global Britain, a proBrexit campaign group.