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Courtesy of the Times.
Liam Fox said today that neither post-Brexit customs options to be presented to cabinet ministers tomorrow solve key red lines, amid hints that he would resign if his ability to strike trade deals were curtailed. Theresa May is approaching crunch point on how Britain wants to approach customs arrangements after Brexit, with mounting pressure from Brussels and Ireland, divisions among cabinet ministers and a rebellion among Tory MPs in parliament. The trade secretary said that whatever the option chosen by cabinet ministers, it must ensure near-frictionless trade, provide a “solution” to the Northern Ireland border issue and allow Britain to sign trade agreements with non EU countries.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Neither of them solve all three problems to the same extent and that’s what we will have to work through at the cabinet sub-committee, looking at the details of them.” Mrs May has put forward two options to deal with customs issues at the border: a “customs partnership” where the UK would continue to collect EU tariffs at the border, and a trusted trade, technological-based solution to minimise checks. The EU has rejected both options, while Brexiteers led by David Davis are vehemently hostile to the partnership idea, which is in favour with Mrs May. The Brexit “war cabinet” subcommittee, with Sajid Javid, the new home secretary, attending for the first time, will meet to discuss the options tomorrow afternoon. The prime minister may use the partnership idea to try and buy off a Commons rebellion by Remain-supporting Tory MPs, which is expected next month. Asked whether he was was happy with either option, Dr Fox did not answer. “There are a number of technical issues. Can we make these two elements we have in front of us work, that’s what we going to try and do.” Asked if he would consider quitting if the government made major compromises in its exit strategy, he replied: “We don’t answer questions with such suppositions.” He added: “Getting no answer you can draw your own inferences.”
Dr Fox said there was no form of customs partnership with the European Union that “could ever be acceptable” as he warned peers against thwarting the will of the people.
Last night the House of Lords voted to give parliament a decisive say on the outcome of the negotiations. Dr Fox suggested that peers were using a “backdoor mechanism” to delay exit from the EU “indefinitely”. He told Today: “We can’t have a situation where the clearly expressed will of the people in a referendum is thwarted by effectively procedural devices that would keep us in the EU indefinitely.” He added: “I think there is quite a big debate now about whether the unelected House can actually thwart the view of the British electorate in a referendum and what’s been happening in terms of the legislation coming from the House of Commons.” Dr Fox denied that a string of parliamentary defeats being inflicted on the government would eventually force it into accepting that the UK would have to be part of some form of customs union with the EU. He said: “If we were in a customs union with the European Union we would have to accept what the EU negotiated in terms of market access to the UK without the UK having a voice. “That’s worse than the position in which we found ourselves today in the European Union.” “I don’t think there is a customs union that could ever be acceptable,” he added. “If we are in a customs union of any sort we will have less ability to shape Britain’s future than we have today. That is not what the public voted for.” A second defeat in a string of votes on Monday saw peers insist that Parliament should be given a say on the Government’s mandate for trade talks with Brussels.