A choice that will chill pro-EU MPs

BREXIT Secretary David Davis surprised MPs with his announcement that Parliament will get a vote on the final deal with the EU but the choice on offer may not appeal to those who want the closest possible relationship with the remaining 27 member states.

Parliamentarians can either endorse the deal Mr Davis hopes to negotiate with the EU or they can reject it and see the UK leave without a deal – the so-called “hard Brexit” that pro-EU MPs are desperate to avoid.

This will not quell the calls for MPs – or the public as a whole – to have a vote on the UK staying in the union. Last week Lord Kerr, who authored the Article 50 process under which Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, regardless of whether or not an exit deal has been agreed, insisted the country could still change its mind.

The lack of progress in the EU talks so far has heightened fears that a deal many not be struck in time. There had been hopes that discussions on a future trading relationship with the EU could get the green light in December but before this can happen progress will have to be made on subjects as vexing as EU citizens’ rights, the border with the Republic of Ireland, and the divorce bill.

Mr Davis’ announcement came on the same day that UK and European business leaders met with Theresa May to share their concerns.

Emma Marcegaglia of Business Europe left nobody in any doubt about the extent of their anxiety, or what they want to see happen.

She said: “Business is extremely concerned with the slow pace of negotiations and the lack of progress... Business aims to avoid a cliff edge and therefore asks for a ‘status quo-like’ transitional arrangement with the UK staying in the customs union and the single market as this will best provide citizens and businesses with greater certainty.”

Mrs May has the ambition of securing “free and frictionless trade” with the EU but it is far from clear how she can strike a deal that would allow the UK to enjoy the key advantages of membership outside the union. If she can pull this off she will be remembered as a diplomatic maestro.

She wants to secure a “time-limited implementation period” to provide businesses with certainty but eurosceptics will be anxious to avoid the UK getting stuck in a long-term arrangement where the country has to abide by EU rules and make financial contributions but has no seat at the decisionmaking table. This would be seen as the worst of all possible worlds by those who want to strike free trade deals with emerging economic powerhouses and cut taxes and regulations.

The crucial debate Parliament needs to have is about what type of country Britain should be postBrexit. This will determine the type of deal ministers should seek with the EU.

Yes, time is short but the future of the UK is at stake and the answer to this question should define the strategy. People in every nation need to take part in this crucial conversation. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%