Britain to publish Brexit blueprint, denies divide
Labour seeks customs proposals details
LONDON, May 16, (Agencies): A detailed Brexit strategy dossier will be produced in the coming weeks, the British government said Wednesday, amid accusations that cabinet divisions are holding up negotiations with the EU.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said the so-called White Paper would include “detailed, ambitious and precise explanations” of the government’s positions ahead of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union in March 2019. “It will communicate our ambition for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, in the context of our vision for the UK’s future role in the world,” he said.
The paper, which will reportedly run to about 100 pages, will be published ahead of an EU summit at the end of June. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has yet to decide what trading ties after Britain leaves the EU’s single market and customs union will look like.
She is trying to balance demands to protect existing jobs and trade with the bloc, and the desire to forge a new independent trade policy.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, this week said that “no significant progress” has been made since EU leaders last met at the end of March, and warned that key issues must be resolved before next month’s summit.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told May that if she could not decide on the way forward, he would take over.
“The government is so busy negotiating with itself that it cannot negotiate with anybody else,” he told lawmakers in the House of Commons. “We’ve had 23 months since the referendum. We have just 10 months to complete negotiations and the government is in complete disarray,” he added.
May repeated her three objectives — to pursue an independent trade policy, ensure as frictionless trade with the EU as possible and avoid disruption between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In related news, Britain’s opposition Labour Party will try to force Prime Minister May’s government on Wednesday to reveal details of its two customs proposals in Brexit talks, capitalising on a row that is dividing her ministers.
If supported by a vote in parliament, the move would be embarrassing for a leader who has worked hard to keep much of Britain’s Brexit negotiations secret, especially the debate on customs arrangements with the European Union.
The government tried late on Tuesday to rebuff Labour by saying it would soon publish its vision for Brexit, setting out over more than 100 pages its plans for everything from fishing to finance to security cooperation.