Theresa May will be wishing Amber Rudd was still Home Secretary tonight following a fiery meeting of her Brexit inner cabinet on the issue of the customs union. The Prime Minister convened a three hour long meeting of her senior ministers in a bid to finally thrash out a plan for a post-Brexit customs arrangement to put to Brussels. However, things did not go quite to plan – with a decision delayed after a number of ministers raising serious concerns with No 10’s favoured option.
The most revealing aspect of the meeting relates to the customs partnership that Downing Street wants to push. This hybrid customs model would in theory keep trade flowing freely by having the UK collect tariffs on the EU’s behalf. But as James previously quoted a Cabinet minister as saying: ‘Sounds mad and unworkable? Yes it is.’
To May’s surprise, this appears to have also been the verdict with the majority of the room tonight. Of those criticising May’s proposal, Gavin Williamson voiced concerns – as did Sajid Javid, the new Home Secretary. The Prime Minister is said to have looked taken aback by how far they went. Javid voted Remain in the EU referendum but is much more eurosceptic than Rudd so his appointment is what’s said to have tonight tipped the committee in favour of rejecting the customs partnership. Javid told the Prime Minister that he had ‘significant concerns’ with the proposal. That doesn’t mean the idea is dead – but after the hammering the proposal took today it will be different for No 10 to resuscitate it. As one cabinet minister said to me; ‘We will be leaving the customs union completely – full stop.’
While Brexiteers will be relieved to hear the idea did not get the green light (with the European Research Group threatening to rebel if it had), it’s not clear where this leaves the government’s Brexit strategy. As things stand, they will reconvene next week to go over it all again – this time with the hope of actually coming up with a viable plan. Time is of the essence here not only because Brussels is demanding a solution be found for the Irish border before talks progress further, but because a Commons votes looms with Tory rebels threatening to force the government to form a customs union if they don’t provide a viable alternative plan.
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