‘Have cake and eat it’
Has MP’s aide let slip UK’s Brexit tactics?
SCRIBBLED notes tucked under her arm, this was MP’s aide Julia Dockerill photographed in Downing Street yesterday following a meeting about Brexit strategy.
The memo suggested Theresa May’s tactic was to ‘have cake and eat it’, warned the French would be difficult and hinted Britain was unlikely to stay in the single market. No 10 insisted it did not reflect official policy.
THERESA May’s Brexit negotiating strategy is to ‘have cake and eat it’, according to a memo written by a Tory party aide that was photographed in Downing Street yesterday.
The handwritten note – which was being carried from a meeting in the Brexit Department – says the UK is ‘unlikely’ to be able to remain inside the single market.
But it raises hopes of securing a good deal for manufacturing. The scribbled notes also warns that the Government’s position could be undermined by the ‘difficult’ French negotiating team.
One section says: ‘What’s the model? Have cake and eat it. Very French negotiating team.’ A sec- tion further down adds: likely to be most difficult.’
It also reveals that the French are hoping to steal business from the UK, most likely affecting the City and the lucrative services sector.
The note is understood to have been written by aide and London councillor Julia Dockerill, who was pictured carrying it into No10. She is the chief of staff to Tory party vice chairman Mark Field.
Last night, No 10 flatly dismissed the contents of the memo. A spokesman said: ‘These individual notes do not belong to a Government official or a special adviser.
‘They do not reflect the Government’s position in relation to Brexit ‘French negotiations.’ But the gaffe is likely to cause huge irritation inside No 10, which has refused to give a ‘running commentary’ on the Brexit talks. The Prime Minister insists that doing so would undermine her negotiating position.
Officials are also likely to be annoyed that yet another person has been caught out walking along Downing Street with a sensitive document on display.
Miss Dockerill and her boss Mr Field – Tory vice chairman in charge of international affairs – had just left a meeting at the Department for Exiting the European Union, headed by David Davis.
Officials did not disclose who they had met, but Mr Field is the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, which covers many of the biggest and most powerful corporations in the country. Mr Davis’s Brexit department is based in Downing Street, next to No 10.
Opposition MPs claimed the notes, scribbled over a single page, appeared to offer the first major clues on what Government’s blueprint might be.
They indicate the UK is looking at a ‘Canada-plus’ trade arrangement – in which we would be able to strike deals with the single market, without formally being a member.
Crucially, this would leave Britain outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and in charge of its borders. The document suggests continued adherence to its rulings does not ‘fit’ with the PM’s determination to curb immigration.
It also backs up speculation that
‘Powerful corporations’
talks are taking place in Whitehall about a ‘transitional’ agreement with the EU from March 2019 – when we are due to formally leave. This would give businesses extra time to extricate themselves from Brussels bureaucracy while still trading inside the single market.
The idea is backed by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, and senior Treasury officials.
However, it could prove hugely controversial if – in return – Britain has to continue to leave its borders open to EU citizens or pay billions of pounds to Brussels.
The document says it would be ‘problematic for EU if we move decisively with no transition’. It adds that Michel Barnier – the EU’s negotiator – ‘wants to see what deal looks like first’.
But the notes, if correct, suggest there is scepticism in some parts of Government at the idea. They say: ‘Transitional – loathe to do it. Whitehall will hold on to it. We need to bring an end to the negotiation.
‘Not provide more detail. We think it’s unlikely we’ll be offered single market. Our criteria are clear – more open the better.’
It describes the prospect of a deal on manufacturing as ‘ relatively straightforward’. But it adds: ‘Services harder because French hoping for business.’
No 10 was adamant the paper did not reflect the views of the Government. But Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: ‘If this is a strategy, it is incoherent. This shows the Government doesn’t have a plan or even a clue.’
Miss Dockerill appeared to be unaware of the gaffe last night as she tweeted pictures from a Christmas party in Wapping. The self-described ‘Essex girl’ and Cambridge graduate has been a councillor in Tower Hamlets since May 2014. She is also a freelance writer.