UK sticks to plans on EU customs union
PM says rejecting suggestions that plans to quit its customs union are again dividing her party
LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday her government was sticking to its proposals to ease trade with the European union after br exit, rejecting suggestions that plans to quit its customs union were again dividing her party.
A government defeat in Britain’s upper house of parliament last week has again raised questions over May’s commitment to leaving the customs union, a plan that has split not only her own party but also across the parliamentary divide.
The government has proposed two ways of ensuring that trade is “as frictionless as possible” with the EU once Britain ends a status quo transition phase after it leaves in March next year. The EU again rejected one of those last week.
“We’ve put forward proposals that will deliver a frictionless border and enable us to do trade deals around the rest of the world,” May told reporters. “I think that will be the best position for the United Kingdom and that’s what we’re working for.”
Earlier, her spokesman said the government had set out the options − a customs partnership or a streamlined customs arrangement − almost a year ago, and that it has “been moving forwards as one with the process of leaving the European Union.”
Ken Clarke has urged Tory MPS to ignore an extraordinary warning that defeat on the customs union would topple May and vote for the “national interest” regardless.
No.10 has piled pressure on potential Conservative rebels by suggesting next month’s showdown will be a “conidence vote,” the BBC reported - meaning defeat would bring down the government.
Such a threat would hugely magnify the importance of the vote - on whether the UK remains in a customs union with the EU after Brexit - and make it harder for Tory MPS to defy the prime minister.
But Clarke accused No.10 of plunging into a “panic of the day,” after Brexiteer MPS demanded that May hold the line, urging fellow pro-eu Tories not to be delected by the hardline tactics.
“In the end, parliament has to decide what is in the national interest,” the former Chancellor said.
The veteran Europhile pointed to the threat of “huge customs barriers and delays” and mounting evidence that leaving the customs union would force border checks in Northern Ireland.
An “absolute red line is we should not break the Good Friday Agreement,” which should not be dismissed as an “inconvenience,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.