UK releases plans for ‘principled pragmatic’ Brexit

THE British government released detailed plans yesterday for what it called a “principled pragmatic and ambitious” Brexit — plans that already triggered the resignation of two top ministers and split the governing Conservative Party, and which face likely resistance from the European Union.

The long-awaited document proposes keeping Britain and the EU in a free market for goods, with a more distant relationship for services.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is trying to satisfy Britons who voted for their country to leave the bloc, but to set an independent course without hobbling businesses, security agencies and other sectors that are closely entwined with the EU. But the plan has infuriated fervent Brexit supporters, who think it would limit Britain’s ability to strike new trade deals around the world. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis both quit the government in protest.

The turmoil in May’s government over Brexit has erupted as US President Donald Trump began a four-day visit to Britain yesterday and nine months before the UK’s departure from the EU.

Trump did not exactly give May’s plans a ringing endorsement. The US leader said at a NATO summit in Brussels that it seemed as if the UK was “getting at least partially involved back with the European Union.”

“I don’t know if that is what they voted for,” he said.

May insisted her plan was exactly what Britons had voted for in a 2016 EU membership referendum. “They voted for us to take back control of our money, our law and our borders,” she said. “That is exactly what we will do.”

Newly appointed Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said the plans called for an “innovative and unprecedented economic partnership” between Britain and the EU.

Britain is currently part of the EU’s single market, which allows for the frictionless flow of goods and services among the 28 member states, and its tariff-free customs union for goods. That will end after the UK leaves the bloc in March. The plans laid out yesterday in a 98-page government paper give Britain’s most detailed answer yet to the question of what will replace them.

Under the blueprint, Britain would stick to a “common rulebook” with the EU for goods and agricultural products in return for free trade, without tariffs or border customs checks. Such a resolution would avoid disruption to automakers and other manufacturers that source parts from multiple countries.