RED ALERT! THERESA’S READY FOR EU BATTLE
BRITAIN is not prepared to negotiate with Brussels on immigration and will take back full control of its borders, the Brexit Secretary declared last night.
In comments that will infuriate Europe’s leaders, David Davis also said there would be no ‘preferential access’ to the UK for EU migrants.
His remarks to the Brexit select committee on the shape of a likely ‘divorce deal’ suggest Britain will impose a strict visa regime – dashing Remainers hopes of a so-called ‘soft Brexit’.
They also indicate Mr Davis and Theresa May are not seeking to remain members of the single market. Mr Davis came under pressure from Europhile MPs to produce a white paper setting out Britain’s aims in the negotiation with Brussels.
But he said he would not be ready to give any information until February at the earliest.
Brussels normally demands the free movement of workers in return for being a member of the tariff free trading bloc.
Mr Davis told MPs that the UK could continue to make some payments into the EU once we have left. However, he said he would accept a transitional arrangement to implement the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU ‘if it’s necessary, and only if it’s necessary’. The Chancellor, by contrast, has enthusiastically embraced the idea.
But, on the subject of immigration, Mr Davis said the Government would not negotiate at all.
He said ministers had learned lessons from the Swiss government, which failed to retain full control of immigration – despite getting an apparent deal from Brussels. Mr Davis said: ‘The Swiss thought they had control of their own migration via an emergency brake, which, when they tried to exercise it, they were unable to do.
‘We have to pay respect to the outcome of the referendum – therefore it has to be clear control by this parliament.’
Asked if the Government will enter into negotiations on preferential access for EU migrants, Mr Davis said: ‘No, I don’t think so. The operation of that decision after we have left will be in the national interest and that will affect all skill levels.’
Downing Street later backed his tough stance, which is likely to receive a frosty response when Mrs May arrives in Brussels today for a meeting of the European Council. She is already due to be excluded from a dinner of the other 27 members of the EU – when they will dis- cuss strategy ahead of the formal negotiations in March.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘ We have been clear throughout as we approach this negotiation that it will be the UK that will control immigration. We will make the decisions.’
Mr Davis indicated that the Government is working on four possible outcomes from the Brexit talks in relation to the European Customs Union.
These include being fully or partially inside the union, having a free trade agreement and customs arrangement with the remaining EU and being ‘completely outside’. The Brexit Secretary said that invoking Article 50 by the end of March would act as a wake-up call to EU leaders that the UK means business about withdrawal. He added: ‘As recently as October, at least one head of government was saying ‘how are you going to reverse this? And many of the others still feel that it can’t really happen.’
He said of the Article 50 process: We don’t intend to revoke it, and it may not be revocable.’ On renegotiation plans, he said he wanted to be ‘as open as we can be’ without undermining the UK’s negotiating position.
Earlier this week, Chancellor Philip Hammond spoke out in favour of a transitional deal, saying there was an ‘emerging view’ among businesses, regulators and ‘thoughtful politicians’.
But Mr Davis said he was not prepared to extend the Brexit negotiations, which he said could be concluded in 18 months.
Yesterday, the Institute for Government claimed Mrs May’s desire for secrecy around her plans is hindering Whitehall’s
‘ Taking back control is quite an important issue ... we have to pay respect to the outcome of the ’ referendum David Davis yesterday ‘We will make the decisions’
ability to prepare for Brexit. It said departments are uncertain about what to do before she triggers Article 50. In a separate report, a group of peers said financial services firms could desert the City unless a transitional deal is secured.
Baroness Falkner of Margravine said any pain caused to the financial sector during Brexit negotiations could see key services shift to New York. Meanwhile, Europhile former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said Mrs May’s determination to take the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice is likely to be ‘a serious stumbling block’.
In a report, he claimed the UK could be cut off from access to crime databases. Government officials, however, have said they expect to sign up to the main information sharing systems.