Senior Brexiteer warns customs partnership would be ‘unacceptable’
People’s Vote movement demands voice in talks amid ‘immense frustration’
PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has been warned by a leading Conservative Brexiteer that proposals for a “customs partnership” with the EU after Britain leaves the bloc are “not acceptable”.
Senior Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin said the plan would mean the UK acting as a “tax collector” for the EU and would fail the Prime Minister’s key tests for a deal with Brussels.
His warning came amid renewed tensions among senior Ministers as members of Mrs May’s Brexit “war cabinet” prepare for a crunch meeting on Wednesday to settle their position on the UK’s future customs relations with EU.
The customs partnership will be one option on the table along with the so-called “max fac” – or maximum facilitation – solution, using technology to minimise the need for border checks.
Ahead of the meeting, the Prime Minister is reported to have been warned she could be ousted unless she sacks her chief Civil Service Brexit negotiator Oliver Robbins, seen as the leading exponent of the partnership option.
Mr Jenkin has made it clear the partnership option is a nonstarter for Brexiteers, adding: “We would still be the tax collector for the European Union and that’s not acceptable.”
PRESSURE IS growing across Yorkshire for a second referendum over Brexit as Theresa May faces increasingly strident calls to clarify Britain’s divorce terms ahead of leaving the European Union.
Cross-party campaigners, including Conservative MP Anna Soubry and Labour’s Chuka Umunna, demanded a voice in any final Brexit deal as they launched the People’s Vote movement earlier this month, backed by actor Sir Patrick Stewart.
Now, as the campaign gathers pace and local groups are formed across the county from Hull to Harrogate, campaigners say there is a feeling of immense frustration at being underrepresented in major decisions which will impact for generations to come.
“There is a groundswell across the county of people realising the consequences of a hard Brexit that we now seem to be heading for – which is very different to what was sold to us back in 2016,” said Richard Sadler of the newly formed North Yorkshire for Europe group that staged its inaugural event in Harrogate on Saturday.
“They feel frustrated that they aren’t being represented. That our long-term interests, the interests of the country, our children and future generations, aren’t being represented. This is such a strong feeling that we need to do something. There’s a narrow window of time to influence what could be a disaster for everybody.”
The People’s Vote, launched to a crowd in London earlier this month, calls for a second referendum on any final Brexit deal. Mirfield-born Sir Patrick, 78, had told a crowd of 1,200 that the day Britain joined the EU in 1973 was one of the best days of his life.
“Since the 2016 referendum, there has been a concerted effort by many – including Government – to shut down debate about Brexit and to tell us that we should simply trust Ministers to get on with it because Brexit is an irreversible process,” he said.
“That we shouldn’t worry about the cost and complexity of it or the litany of broken promises. Well today we say that’s not good enough. Our country’s future is at stake and we will not stand idly by. That is why I support a people’s vote on the final deal.”
Boris Johnson had dismissed Sir Patrick as having had “something in Star Wars” when faced with questions about the People’s Vote campaign. But the new North Yorkshire group is the latest of 130 to have joined the movement, with others based in Hull, York, Sheffield and soon to be in Bradford. A protest march organised by the Leeds in Europe group last month to coincide with the anniversary of the triggering of Article 50 drew an estimated 3,000 people.
Now the North Yorkshire campaigners, who petitioned in Harrogate on Saturday, said a significant number of Leave voters are changing their minds. The group carried out a snap poll in the town on Saturday, with 200 passersby voted Remain and 57 voting Leave, said Mr Sadler.
“The overwhelming majority support the idea of remaining in Europe,” he added. “We have to try and act as a conduit for that voice. We don’t believe the best interests of all of us are being represented.
“We are finding people across political divides and backgrounds are agreeing with us. When the Government comes back with a final deal, this will be too big an issue to leave it to MPs. This is too important an issue that will affect us all for generations to come.”
Initiatives and activities are being organised across Yorkshire in coming weeks ahead of the twoyear anniversary of the Brexit vote.
More snap polls are to be held in market towns across North Yorkshire, some in collaboration with other campaigning groups in Leeds, York, and Hull, while public meetings are to be organised and stalls held at events including the Harrogate International Festival and Great Yorkshire Show.
“There is a greater awareness now, two years on, of the implications of leaving the EU for Yorkshire and countrywide,” said Mr Sadler. “This is a vital issue for our region – particularly our NHS hospitals, our universities, our exporters and our farmers – just as it is across the country. This isn’t over yet – it’s not a done deal. We live in a democracy and the people should have a say.”