May’s ‘deal’ to keep Britain in customs union
Plan ‘avoids hard border in Ireland’
THERESA May has secretly clinched a Brexit deal that will allow her to keep the whole of the UK in a customs union with the EU, it was reported yesterday.
The PM’s Canada-style free trade agreement will protect the Irish border and have an “exit clause” to placate pro-Brexit MPs.
The EU has long insisted that Northern Ireland remain in the customs union and the single market to avoid a hard border on the island if no deal is reached.
But the new deal will include a UK-wide backstop, meaning a backstop solely for Northern Ireland will not be needed. A close aide to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier reportedly said this week that regulatory checks on goods can take place “in the market” by British officials, away from the Irish border.
It is understood the Cabinet will discuss the plan tomorrow. Sources said parts of the deal “could have been written by Jacob Rees-Mogg”, the hardline Tory Brexiteer.
A Whitehall source said the deal contains many successes for the PM but added: “The small print is that Ireland is f ***** ”. But Downing Street said last night: “This is speculation. Negotiations are ongoing.”
Meanwhile, 1,400 of the UK’s top lawyers have written to Mrs May calling for a second Brexit poll. They said “voters are entitled to know what they are voting for”.
And more than 70 business chiefs are backing a People’s Vote. In a joint letter, they said the UK faces “a blindfold or a destructive hard Brexit”.