‘Government needs a substantive EU deal’
“If we are in a customs union of any sort we will have less ability to shape Britain’s future than we have today. That is not what the public voted for.”
Dr Fox refused to say whether he would quit if Mrs May changed course, adding: “Getting no answer you can draw your own inferences.”
Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine and ex-ministers Lord Patten of Barnes and Lord Willetts were among 19 Tory rebels to support the cross-party amendment calling for Parliament to be given the decisive say THE government will find it “difficult” to get any Brexit deal through Parliament unless it has achieved a “pretty substantive” agreement on future relations with the EU by the autumn, David Davis has said.
The Brexit Secretary played down suggestions that a framework expected in October will be little more than a broad political agreement, with the bulk of details left to be worked out during the 21-month transition period following Brexit Day in March 2019.
Instead, he said the government aimed to have large amounts of detail – maybe even including legal wording – “nailed down” by the formal date of Brexit.
Asked during a hearing of the House of Lords EU Committee what state the future relationship framework would be in by the time Parliament votes on the withdrawal agreement this autumn, Mr Davis replied: “We take the view that it has got to be pretty substantive.
“Parliament will vote more than once on the withdrawal agreement and I would be surprised if parliamentarians are happy to vote for the expenditure of £35bn-39bn without knowing what we are getting for it.
“I think it would be quite difficult to get the withdrawal agreement through the House if we don’t have it substantively done.”
Mr Davis stressed that the government regards the transition period ending in December 2020 as a time for implementation of the changes needed to prepare for the changed relationship with the EU.
He said: “Businesses need to know at the beginning of the implementation period what it is they are going to implement, so we have to be substantively there in October, in joint report-type terms, and in legal terms by the time we leave.”