Tory Brexit row erupts over fears new plan will make US trade deal much harder
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Loading... - Giulia Falcone
- 06 Jul 2021
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Downing Street today refused to deny Theresa May’s new Brexit plan would make a trade deal with the US harder to achieve.
But the Prime Minister's spokesman flatly denied claims it would be “impossible.”
It comes after papers circulated to her cabinet ahead of tomorrow’s crunch summit at Chequers threatened to spark a revolt among Brexiteers.
The new plan will see Britain closely mirror EU rules, use technology to determine where goods will end up and therefore which tariffs should be applied, and hand Britain the freedom to set its own tariffs on goods.
Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told the Telegraph: “If this is correect this is not Brexit. The common rulebook means that we are essentially a vassal state.
“The Prime Minister should imitate Mr Gove and tear up this paper.”
The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said: “It is categorically untrue to suggest we will not be able to strike a trade deal with the US.”
Asked if it would be harder to get a deal, she declined to comment further.
Senior ministers gather at Chequers from 9.30am as they bid to finally thrash out an EU withdrawal plan, more than two years after the referendum.
They will be forced to hand over their phones at the door.
Dinner is planned but ministers are not expected to sleep over.
Downing Street sources expect the talks to be tense but do not anticipate resignations.
The October deadline for a deal with Brussels means just six weeks of talks with the EU are left.
The UK is due to leave the bloc on March 29.
Manufacturers urged negotiators to speed-up plans following fears firms are withholding investment and food could rot at ports without a pact.
The PM faces two more flash points this month when Tory rebels will reignite demands for Britain to stay in a customs union.
MPs will debate the Taxation (Cross Border Trade) Bill on July 16 and the Trade Bill the next day.
No 10 claims the customs blueprint to be unveiled today(FRI) offers “the best of both worlds” after two previous proposals were ditched.
The latest idea would allow the UK to set its own tariffs on goods arriving into the country. Technology would be used to determine the goods’ final destination and whether UK or EU tariffs are due.
But Brexit Secretary Mr Davis told the PM the “facilitated customs arrangement” will be rejected.
It came as Jaguar Land Rover warned a “bad” Brexit deal could cost the car-maker £1.2billion every year.
Chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said: “We urgently need greater certainty to continue to invest heavily in the UK and safeguard our suppliers, customers and 40,000 British-based employees.”
German firms are shelving British projects while uncertainty reigns, according to German Industry UK.
Urging the Government to “settle” with the EU, it said “we still don’t know what a post-Brexit Britain will look like, two years after the referendum”.
The British Retail Consortium said crashing out without a deal that protects the free flow of goods would harm British consumers and EU-based producers.
“The cliff edge scenario will mean new border controls and multiple `non-tariff barriers’, through regulatory checks, that will create delays, waste and failed deliveries,” chairman Richard Pennycook said in a letter to the PM and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnieer.
“It is likely that we will see food rotting at ports, reducing the choice and quality of what is available to consumers.”
Mrs May held talks with Angela Merkel in Berlin yesterday(THU).
The German Chancellor said Brexit “negotiations will now enter a crucial phase.”
Mr Barnier’s senior adviser warned the PM - who also visited Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte this week - against trying to divide EU leaders.
Stefaan De Rynck told the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Birmingham: “The unity of the 27 countries has been strong in the Brexit negotiations from the start.”
He again ruled out single market cherry picking by Britain.
“A shared principle on the EU side is to preserve the integrity of the single market,” he told town hall chiefs.
“Single market participation in some economic sectors but not in others, or some kind of single market participation based not on all four freedoms – the free movement of people, goods, services and capital – has to be excluded by the 27 leaders.”
