Do your Brexit duty, Britain's May tells her divided government

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Do your Brexit duty, Britain's May tells her divided government

By Elizabeth Piper

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, July 4, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May called on her government to do its duty and agree a plan for Britain's future outside the European Union, a last-ditch appeal to ministers to put Brexit rows behind them and take a "step forward".

 

Just hours before hosting a meeting at her Chequers country residence on Friday that she hopes will overcome deep rifts that have hampered Britain's Brexit plans, May urged her cabinet to agree a way to push on with all-but-stalled talks with the EU.

 

A united stance from the government cannot come soon enough for an increasingly frustrated EU and for many companies, which have stepped up their warnings of the risk to tens of thousands of jobs if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal.

 

But the first details of May's new plan for Britain's future customs ties - a "facilitated customs arrangement" - won mixed reviews, with one Brexit campaigner saying it could leave the country out of Europe but still run by Europe.

 

"The cabinet meets at Chequers ... to agree the shape of our future relationship with the European Union. In doing so, we have a great opportunity – and a duty," May said before her ministers set off for the 16th-century manor house 40 miles (60 km) northwest of London.

 

"Now is the time for another step forward. We want a deal that allows us to deliver the benefits of Brexit – taking control of our borders, laws and money and by signing ambitious new trade deals with countries like the U.S, Australia and New Zealand," she added in a statement.

 

On Thursday, May made her opening gambit to overcome the deep divisions in not only her government, but in her Conservative Party, parliament and across Britain by suggesting a new customs plan to keep trade flowing as freely as possible.

 

It would see Britain closely mirror EU rules, use technology to determine where goods will end up and therefore which tariffs should be applied, and hand London the freedom to set its own tariffs on incoming goods. Britain would also be able to strike trade deals with other countries, her spokeswoman said.

 

But Brexit campaigners, including at least one minister in her cabinet, fear that the plan will keep Britain in the EU's customs sphere. That, some Brexit supporters say, would be a betrayal of her pledge for a clean break with the bloc and for Britain to win the ability to strike out alone.

 

Her office has so far made public only a few details of the plan and it may be changed at the Chequers meeting, which is expected to run all day and possibly late into the evening.

 

Even if she finds agreement at home, May still faces the hard task of winning the support of the EU, which poured cold water on her previous suggestions for customs arrangements and has pressed the leader to come up with "workable" proposals.

 

But for now, May hopes to concentrate minds at home.

 

She said in the statement: "This is about agreeing an approach that delivers decisively on the verdict of the British people - an approach that is in the best interests of the UK and the EU, and crucially, one that commands the support of the public and parliament."

 

(Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-06

[John1012]

May is an appeasing incompetent and a ditherer, she should never have been given a ministerial appointment, let alone the job of PM. The Tory party needs to grasp the nettle and replace her with someone who has leadership qualities that can bring the country together again, a democrat and a patriot who will support free expression, equality of the sexes and freedom of religion. Jacob Rees-Mogg seems the only credible candidate, popular, patriotic, a person that one can respect, not a plastic perfidious politician (May,Sourby,Corbyn,Abbot, Hamilton). Someone who will follow the mandate arrived at by democratic referendum to leave the EU, not partially leave, but to regain total sovereignty over all aspects of national policy in the UK. Treat the EU as another state to be traded with and arrive at a free trade agreement, or not. The only monies due to the EU will be the legal requirements for pension and redundancy payments. 

 

[terryw]

May's duty is to respect the Referendum result and not pander to scaremongering from the London Elite and big business.

 

She also needs to be reminded that it is the little people who decided to Leave the EU. If she does not do this then the Tory party will be destroyed at the next Election.

[Chomper Higgot]

2 minutes ago, terryw said:

May's duty is to respect the Referendum result and not pander to scaremongering from the London Elite and big business.

 

She also needs to be reminded that it is the little people who decided to Leave the EU. If she does not do this then the Tory party will be destroyed at the next Election.

The PM has many other duties including the governance of the nation to maintain defence, security, the economy, health and welfare services... the list goes on.

 

These are all funded by the economy.

 

Time for the PM to start telling the nation the truth.

 

[Krataiboy]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The PM has many other duties including the governance of the nation to maintain defence, security, the economy, health and welfare services... the list goes on.

 

These are all funded by the economy.

 

Time for the PM to start telling the nation the truth.

 

 

The truth is the last thing political leaders will tell us. If they did, they'd have a revolution on their hands.

[nauseus]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The PM has many other duties including the governance of the nation to maintain defence, security, the economy, health and welfare services... the list goes on.

 

These are all funded by the economy.

 

Time for the PM to start telling the nation the truth.

 

The economy... all funded by the economy. Oh Lordy.

[Baerboxer]

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The PM has many other duties including the governance of the nation to maintain defence, security, the economy, health and welfare services... the list goes on.

 

These are all funded by the economy.

 

Time for the PM to start telling the nation the truth.

 

 

Unfortunately the current crop of Tory Ministers, MP's and Party members wouldn't know the truth if it bit them!

 

And all this started as a trick by Cameron to hopefully spike the Tory anti EU lobby and the then growth in UKIP support. And, despite all those who clamor "to respect the decision", the referendum was put into law as "advisory". But neither the Tories or Labor have the balls to debate it properly and vote as they feel is right for the country. Someone should indeed remind them all of their duty in our representative democracy and constitution.