Tory chairman is talking nonsense over agreement, say critics of deal
Brandon Lewis accused of citing ‘worthless’ clause in conference call with PM and local party activists
THE chairman of the Conservative Party has been accused of peddling “nonsense” to grassroots Tories in a conference call intended to win support for Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
Brandon Lewis told local Conservative Association chairmen during the call that the proposed deal contained a “very, very high legal bar” requiring the EU to agree a trade deal before there was any need ed for a Northern Ireland backstop.
Article 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement says the EU must use its “best endeavours” to agree a trade deal before the end of the transition period.
But lawyers and Brexit-supporting MPs have argued the phrase is legally worthless.
There were also claims that Tories ries with hostile questions were cut off before they had a chance to put them m to the Prime Minister during the call.
Mrs May held the 45-minute call, which was chaired by Mr
Lewis, with around nd 300 constituency chairmen on Friday afternoon.
Concerns about out her proposed deal were raised by several callers, including one who felt that the agreement would “lock in” the UK to a “deeply unpalatable” customs union with the EU if the backstop was enforced.
The backstop, which is designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland if no trade deal is agreed before the transition period ends in December 2020, would keep the whole of the UK in a customs union with the EU. Because a trade deal with the EU is yet to be agreed, several chairmen were concerned that Brussels will simply use the backstop as its default position and do nothing to offer Britain improved terms.
Article 184 states that: “The Union and the UK shall use their best endeavours, in good faith and in full respect of their respective legal orders, to take the necessary steps to negotiate expeditiously the agreements governing their future relationship … with a view to ensuring that those agreements apply, to the extent possible, as from the end of the transition period.” Mrs May insisted Britain could not finalise a trade deal de until it had left the EU next March, and Mr Lewis interjected: “The lawyer in me just wanted to remind everybody that the phrase ‘best endeavours’ which is in there is a very high legal bar … a very, very high bar.” However, David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, described the claim as a “practical nonsense”. “Best endeavours clauses when they’re used in legal documents are hard to en- force at the best of times,” added Mr Davis.
He said that if the EU did not agree a trade deal with the UK it was “impossible to imagine” Britain having any legal redress because “they could simply say they were negotiating robustly”.
He suggested that Mr Lewis should publish the Government’s full legal advice on the point, “rather than giving his own opinion on something which is a very vexed area of international law”.
Martin Howe QC, a barrister who supports Brexit, said: “This sort of obligation is completely non-justiciable.
“Without in any way exercising bad faith, the EU would be able to drag out these negotiations for many years
“It’s notorious that an obligation to agree is unenforceable.
“My view is this [provision] provides no comfort. It certainly doesn’t provide any legal remedy if the EU either drags out negotiations or simply won’t agree to terms that we want.”
Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: “In the political world, few colleagues are going to take seriously that proposition.”
One of the chairmen on the conference call said: “The default position is for us to be in this so-called backstop … we’re into this position because in fact we haven’t been able to negotiate a trade policy. My concern is we’re going to lock into something which is deeply unpalatable.”
Mrs May said there would be a much fuller framework agreed at a summit of EU leaders on November 25, at which the entire Withdrawal Agreement, including an outline trade deal, is expected to be signed off.
Paulette Furse, the chairman of Sevenoaks Conservative Association in Kent, claimed on Twitter she was “cut off” from the conference call after giving a researcher her question.
She wrote: “Maybe she [Mrs May] couldn’t give me answer on why she’s not prepared to leave EU without a deal in the eventuality of bill not getting votes in Commons.”