‘Brexit deal backed by EU leaders will hit Wales’
THERESA May’s Brexit plan, which was signed off by EU leaders yesterday, does not protect the interests of Wales, First Minister Carwyn Jones has warned.
In a withering assessment of the deal which was hammered out in Brussels, Mr Jones said it risks new barriers going up which will have a detrimental impact on the national economy.
By contrast, on a historic day in Brussels, the Prime Minister insisted the agreement delivered on the promises of the EU referendum as she set the stage for a Commons showdown with her critics.
After the leaders of the remaining 27 member states, meeting in the Belgian capital, took less than 40 minutes to approve the deal yesterday morning, she confirmed she would now put it to a vote of MPs before Christmas.
And as EU leaders lined up to insist that there could be no renegotiation, Mrs May said the public was fed up of wrangling over Brexit and wanted to move on.
“It will be one of the most significant votes that Parliament has held for many years. On it will depend whether we move forward together into a brighter future or open the
door to yet more division and uncertainty,” she said.
“The British people don’t want to spend any more time arguing about Brexit. They want a good deal done that fulfils the vote and allows us to come together again as a country.
“I will take this deal back to the House of Commons, confident we have achieved the best deal available and full of optimism about the future of our country.
“In Parliament and beyond it, I will make the case for this deal with all my heart and I look forward to that campaign.”
However, with more than 80 Tory MPs declaring publicly that they intend to vote against the plan, Mrs May faces an uphill battle to make the parliamentary arithmetic add up.
Meanwhile, Mr Jones said: “It is clear we desperately need a withdrawal agreement to avoid crashing out the EU. However, the draft political declaration does not protect and preserve the interests of Wales and the rest of the UK, and this agreement does not secure frictionless trade and risks new barriers which will have a detrimental impact on the Welsh economy.”
He added: “We have put forward practical, detailed, evidence-based suggestions for a Brexit that would not cause needless damage.
“The Prime Minister has come a long way since her ill-advised red lines, but she needs to recognise we need the closest possible relationship with the EU.
“We will set out our analysis of the deal in the coming days and timetable a substantial debate and vote on the deal before the meaningful vote in Parliament.”
The 585-page legally-binding withdrawal agreement sets out the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU – including a “divorce bill” estimated at £39bn.
Yesterday’s sign-off came just 72 hours after negotiators agreed a 26-page draft political declaration calling for an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership” between the EU and the UK in areas like trade, defence and security.
It confirmed the UK’s right to develop an independent trade policy and end the free movement of EU nationals, and leaves open the possibility of using technological solutions to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.
But elements which infuriated Brexiteers included:
Plans for a “free trade area, combining deep regulatory and customs co-operation”, building and improving on the “single customs territory” provided for in the withdrawal agreement;
provisions to ensure a “level playing field” on business competition, which could cover areas including state aid, workplace and environmental protections, climate change laws and tax; and
a role for the European Court of Justice in providing “binding” rulings on the interpretation of EU law in disputes between the two sides.
Ahead of the impending Commons vote on the new deal, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted Mrs May could carry on as Prime Minister if she was defeated in that vote.
“Absolutely she can,” he told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show yesterday.
However, pressed on whether the Government could collapse, he acknowledged: “It’s not possible to rule out anything.”
Jeremy Corbyn confirmed Labour would be voting against the agreement, denouncing it as a “bad deal” for Britain.
“It is the result of a miserable failure of negotiation that leaves us with the worst of all worlds,” he said.
Mrs May refused to be drawn on whether she would stand down if she lost the vote, despite being repeatedly pressed during her endof-summit press conference.
“I am focusing on ensuring that I make a case for this deal to MPs,” she said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker led the warnings that there could be no return to the negotiating table if the deal – comprising the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration of future EU-UK relations – was rejected.
“This is the deal. It’s the best deal possible and the EU will not change its fundamental position when it comes to these issues,” he said.
“Those who think by rejecting the deal that they would have a better deal will be disappointed in the first seconds after the rejection of this deal.”
And Ireland’s premier Leo Varadkar added: “There isn’t a Plan B. The truth is what we have here is the best deal that is available both for the United Kingdom and for the European Union.
“What’s on the table is the only deal that’s on the table.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose 10 MPs prop up Mrs May’s minority
Government in the Commons, said she could not support the provisions on the Northern Ireland backstop intended to prevent the return of a hard border with the Republic.
“There is very much a border down the Irish Sea as a result of this and that’s why we can’t support this deal,” she told The Andrew Marr Show.
A number of leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, expressed “sadness” that they were setting the seal on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Asked whether she shared their sadness, Mrs May said: “No, but I recognise that others do.
“I recognise some European leaders are sad at this moment, but also some people back at home in the UK will be sad at this moment.”
On this side of the Irish Sea, Stephen Doughty, Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, was among those who said they would not support the deal tabled by Mrs May.
He claimed there has been a seachange in opinion since the referendum asking whether the UK should leave the EU back in 2016.
He added: “First of all, this is not a deal worthy of its name.
“All we have is a divorce agreement on a piece of paper and no detail, nothing about the future relationship with the EU after two years of negotiations.
“No guarantees about our trading and economic future with the EU.
“It’s a sorry state of affairs and a constitutional crisis.”
And Mr Doughty said it was time the new deal was put to another people’s vote.
“Wales has changed its mind, and people need to be able to choose the right deal for the UK to find a way forward or choose to remain in the EU,” he added.
“People in my consituency have changed their minds, people that voted leave now want to remain and that has to be listened to.”
Brexiteer and Conservative MP for Monmouth David Davies said he would be backing the deal.
He added: “This is obviously a compromise, I would have preferred the Government to have prepared for a nodeal brexit after Article 50 and leaving without a deal.
“In reality, this hasn’t happened. What this compromise does is get us out of the EU and, therefore, I accept that and will vote for it.”
He added: “Those who want the deal voted down have very different motives.”
One group believes that it will not lead to a clear enough separation from the EU, he said.
“They want this deal voted down in order to allow a no-deal Brexit to take place at the end of March,” he added.
“An equal number of people, who support EU membership, would like this deal voted down in order to prevent Brexit from taking place.
“The anti-EU group will point out that we have already passed legislation to enact Article 50 which is legally irrevocable and that whatever happens we will legally leave the EU at the end of March.
“The pro-EU group believe that nothing is inevitable and that if a majority of MPs from all parties get together they could force the Government to extend Article 50 or hold another referendum.
“Obviously they cannot both be right.”
Battle for parliamentary approval
Many thought it would be nearimpossible for Mrs May to secure consensus among all of the EU’s leaders back when Article 50 was triggered on March 29, 2017. Furthermore, few predicted that one of the biggest threats to the deal would eventually come from Brexiteer MPs when, in the early stages of the negotiations, Remain campaigners took the Government to the highest court in the land in order to secure a meaningful vote for MPs. This Commons vote is the major hurdle Mrs May must now overcome if her hard-won deal is to be enshrined in UK law. The vote is expected to take place before MPs break for Christmas in December.
Eurosceptic rejection
Led by figures including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, a swathe of Brexiteer Tories have rejected Mrs May’s deal and called for it to be renegotiated. This raises the prospect of some of Mrs May’s own MPs voting against the agreement when it goes before the Commons. Appearing at the DUP conference on Saturday, Mr Johnson said the deal will leave the UK a “satellite state” of the EU. In the Sunday Express, Mr Rees-Mogg said the deal “does not deliver” on Brexit and “instead of taking back control, in some areas it will leave the United Kingdom with even less control than it currently has: the vassal state”.
DUP opposition
The Eurosceptics’ rejection of the plans stems in large part from the deal’s backstop provision for the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Hardline Brexiteers say it risks the UK being unable to ever fully leave the EU. The DUP says the backstop would see Northern Ireland adopt a different regulatory regime to Great Britain if a wider UK/ EU trade deal fails to materialise. DUP leader Arlene Foster said the draft deal fails to protect the Union. With 10 MPs in the Commons, their support could be crucial for Mrs May’s deal to pass.
Labour opposition
Labour repeatedly warned that they would vote against any deal that does not pass six tests. Among the requirements are that it delivers the “exact same” benefits, fair management of migration and the protection of workers’ rights and protections.
On Wednesday Jeremy Corbyn branded the deal as “botched” and a “leap in the dark”. “[It] breaches the Prime Minister’s own red lines and does not meet our six tests”, he said.
Uncertain future
There is growing speculation that the deal will be voted down by MPs in its current form, although the PM is expected to have several weeks to build support. Aware of the widespread opposition among MPs, Mrs May is appealing directly to the public. On Saturday she issued a “letter to the nation” in which she urged Britons to get behind the deal.
She has also sought the backing of business in an effort to encourage MPs to support the deal.
What happens if it is voted down?
MPs’ rejection of Mrs May’s plan would open up several possibilities – Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal on March 29; Mrs May having to return to the EU to ask for further talks; or a so-called People’s Vote that could see Brexit halted altogether.
On Saturday Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that rejecting the deal would leave Britain in “uncharted territory”, while he said a no-deal Brexit would unleash “economic chaos”.
Could another deal be struck?
EU leaders have warned they will not return to the negotiating table; however a no-deal Brexit would have damaging consequences for both the UK and EU countries. If talks are reopened it will likely mean extending the Article 50 period well beyond March 29.
According to reports, officials in Westminster and Brussels are continuing to work on plans for alternative arrangements. The Sunday Telegraph reported that “several senior ministers” were working on plans for a Norway-style relationship with the EU.
Brexit: Part two
Negotiations up to this point have related to the arrangements for how Britain’s divorce from the EU will take place. If Mrs May’s divorce deal is passed by Parliament, next comes the long process of agreeing on how the UK will trade with the bloc in the future.
Negotiators have until the end of the transition period, which could run until the end of 2022, to strike a deal. If they fail to do so, that could mean the imposition of the backstop to ensure no disruption to the Irish border.