Brexit SHOWDOWN: May plans Chequers lock-in to thrash out Irish border solution
PRIME Minister Theresa May is planning another Chequers lock-in in a desperate bid to thrash out a Brexit solution amid signs her Cabinet is about to plunge into a damaging civil war.
David Davis: My future is a question for the Prime Minister
With Brexiteers and pro-Europeans taking regular potshots at one another, and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson increasingly looking like a loose cannon, Mrs May is struggling to keep the process on track.
Brexit Secretary David Davis spoke with her this week to voice his reservations over her plans for a “backstop” customs system for Northern Ireland to avoid the need for a hard border.
This would see the UK retain some aspects of the EU’s customs union in the event of a wider UK-EU agreement finding no solution to the issue.
But Mr Davis is unhappy at the lack of a firm commitment to end this temporary arrangement, with the Cabinet Office’s Northern Ireland border document merely stating: “The UK expects the future arrangement to be in place by the end of December 2021 at the latest.”
Tensions mounted still further after leaked remarks from Mr Johnson called for a tougher approach to negotiations, warned of a Brexit “meltdown” and appear to suggest that US President Donald Trump would a better job.
Bloomberg reports Mrs May will summon ministers to Chequers once the EU Summit scheduled to be held in Brussels on June 28 and 29 is out of the way.
There they will attempt to hammer out the wording of the White Paper which she has promised to publish setting out the Government’s vision for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
The Government is yet to explain how it would keep regulations aligned in areas such as goods, agriculture, energy, electricity, and environment policy, with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, warning on Friday that this will be necessary in order to avoid border checks.
One possibility is to keep Northern Ireland – but not mainland Britain – aligned with EU rules.
But this is likely to prove extremely controversial, with DUP MPs in the North – on whom Mrs May relies to keep her Government afloat – likely to be vehemently opposed to anything which sees the region treated differently to the rest of the UK.
Mrs May staged a similar Chequers lock-in in February, when she and other senior ministers thrashed out an agreement on her strategy for a future grade deal.
It is the uncertainty that is most damaging to British business
However, the ongoing delay to the publication of the White Paper is alarming business leaders, with Guy Platten, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, saying earlier this week claiming the Government’s vision was “barely comprehensible”.
He added: “We cannot begin planning for a transition until we know what we are transitioning towards – and we are running out of time.
“We need goods to move quickly and efficiently through our ports – that much is clear.
“But make no mistake, it is the uncertainty that is most damaging to British business.”