Customs union beyond 2020’
containing some of the most trenchant criticism of the Government, with three Tory members of the committee failing in a bid to water down the language used.
The report noted that the Government had not yet agreed which customs model it prefers “despite this being absolutely integral to the future EU-UK relationship and the UK’s trade relationship with the rest of the world”.
“There is disagreement in Cabinet over which option to pursue, while it has been reported that the European Union has rejected both proposals on the grounds that they are seen as unworkable,” the report noted.
On citizens’ rights, the report noted that the Government’s handling of the Windrush generation scandal had “undermined trust in the ability of the Home Office” to be able to handle the process of settling the citizenship status of EU nationals living in the UK.
Aberavon Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said the report exposed “yet more of the shambolic mess that the government is making of Brexit”.
He said: “We now know that MPs will be asked to sign off at least £35bn of tax payers money on the basis of a wing and a prayer. This is because in October we will be asked to vote on a withdrawal agreement with only a broad brush outline of what our long-term future relationship with the EU will look like.
“It is truly astonishing that the government has not sought to put any conditions into the withdrawal agreement to connect the divorce bill with the terms of the deal on our long term future relationship with the EU... With just one month until the EU summit it is extraordinary and deeply troubling that instead of negotiating with the EU the government is still negotiating with itself.
“For over 18 months now I have been banging the drum for an EEA/ EFTA-based Brexit which would allow Britain full access to the single market, legal sovereignty, and increased control over immigration.”
Fellow committee member and Plaid Cymru Arfon MP Hywel Williams said: “This is a significant report from the Brexit Committee, highlighting the importance of not just the customs union but also crucially, the single market to the aim of maintaining frictionless trade after we leave the EU. The evidence the committee received was clear – if we are to maintain an open border in Ireland and avoid creating a hardborder between Ireland and Wales in the Irish Sea, we have to stay in both the customs union and the single market.
“The notion that we can somehow have frictionless trade without the Single Market – a position shared by both the Conservatives and the Labour party, is fantasy.”