UK may stay in customs union until 2023
Britain will be unable to leave the European customs union before 2023, ministers have been told, leading to fears that the delay will be exploited by Remainers.
In a briefing to the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-committee earlier this week, senior civil servants said highly complex new technology, which will be needed to operate Britain’s borders after Brexit, may not be ready for another five years.
Theresa May has asked officials to carry out more work on the two options being considered to replace the customs union: a customs partnership and a so-called ‘‘maximum facilitation’’ plan.
The disclosure was made despite claims yesterday by David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, who told MPs he was ‘‘100 per cent’’ sure Britain will have left the customs union by the end of the transition period on Dec 31, 2020.
The expected delays mean that whatever the Cabinet decides on, the country will have to stay in a form of customs union for four years after leaving the bloc in March 2019.
Brexiteers have expressed serious concerns that Remainers in Parliament will use the delay to try to keep Britain in the customs union and possibly even the single market. One senior Brexiteer told
‘‘There are genuine concerns this delay will lead to the UK staying in the customs union permanently. Regardless of that, if we are still in the customs union by the next general election in 2022 it will cause a catastrophe at the polls because we will not have delivered Brexit and voters will not have seen any benefits of leaving the EU.’’
The Government is yet to agree a position on the customs relationship with the EU after a meeting of the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-committee broke up without a decision on Wednesday.
May’s preferred option of a customs partnership with the EU was rejected by a majority of the 11-strong committee, and the Prime Minister was warned yesterday not to try to revive the policy.
Brexiteers fear she will present a ‘‘customs partnership 2.0’’ plan to the committee later this month in the hope of winning over the Remainers Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, and Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, both of whom sided with Leavers during the heated discussion. The alternative being discussed by ministers is a ‘‘maximum facilitation’’ plan, or ‘‘max fac’’ for short, which will harness new technology and trusted trader schemes to avoid a hard customs border in Ireland.
The EU has rejected both ideas out of hand, giving succour to Remainers who argue that staying in the customs union is the only viable solution if Britain is to solve the Irish border problem.
May has been told by Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, that the Government is likely to lose a crucial vote in Parliament in the coming weeks calling for ministers to make a customs union with the EU one of their Brexit negotiating objectives.
Tory rebels led by Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, have tabled an amendment to the Customs Bill designed to keep the UK in a customs union. Mr Grieve says a ‘‘broad swathe’’ of Tories sympathise with his cause.