May wins support from divided UK government on Brexit plan

[rooster59]

May wins support from divided UK government on Brexit plan

By Elizabeth Piper and William James

 

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) - British Prime Minister Theresa May secured a cabinet agreement on Friday for her plans to leave the European Union, overcoming rifts among her ministers to win support for "a business-friendly" proposal aimed at spurring stalled Brexit talks.

 

After an hours-long meeting at her Chequers country residence, May seemed to have persuaded the most vocal Brexit campaigners in the cabinet to back her plan to press for "a free trade area for goods" with the EU and maintain close trade ties.

 

The agreed proposal - which also says Britain's large services sector will not have the current levels of access to EU markets - will not come soon enough for Brussels, which has been pressing May to come up with a detailed vision for future ties.

 

But the hard-won compromise may yet fall flat with EU negotiators.

 

By also committing to ending free movement of people, the supremacy of the European court and "vast" payments to the bloc, May could be accused of "cherry-picking" the best bits of the EU by Brussels officials, who are determined to send a strong signal to other countries not to follow Britain out of the door.

 

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed the agreement but added on Twitter: "We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic."

 

For now, May, who has been written off by critics regularly since losing her Conservative Party's parliamentary majority in an ill-judged election last year, will be buoyed by the hard-won agreement.

 

"Today in detailed discussions the cabinet has agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU," May said in a statement. "Now we must all move at pace to negotiate our proposal with the EU to deliver the prosperous and secure future all our people deserve."

 

In a document outlining the government's position, ministers said they had agreed that an earlier proposal made to the EU "needed to evolve in order to provide a precise, responsible and credible basis for progressing negotiations".

 

Instead, they had agreed to negotiate for a "free trade area for goods", one that would see Britain having a "common rulebook for all goods" in a combined customs territory. This would allow Britain to set its own import tariffs and seal new free trade deals.

 

They also agreed that parliament would have the power to decide whether to follow EU rules and regulations in the future, and the government would step up preparations for the eventuality of a 'no deal' exit.

 

But for both sides of the Brexit debate - the hardline eurosceptics and the staunch EU supporters - the agreed negotiating position was not enough.

 

John Longworth, a chairman of campaign group Leave Means Leave, accused May of personally deceiving Brexit campaigners. "May's Brexit means BRINO – 'Brexit In Name Only' – a fake Brexit."

 

Pro-EU Labour lawmaker Chuka Ummuna described it as "yet another behind-closed-doors stitch up that would leave us all worse off".

 

The Times newspaper said, without citing sources, that May was taking a hard line and had promised senior allies that she would sack foreign minister Boris Johnson, a Brexit supporter, if he tried "to undermine the peace deal".

 

TRADE DEALS

 

With nine months before Britain leaves and just over three before the EU says it wants a deal, May has been under intense pressure from the bloc and from many businesses to show her negotiating position.

 

As she held the crisis talks with her ministers, the chief executive of European planemaker Airbus, Tom Enders, accused the government of having "no clue or at least consensus on how to execute Brexit without severe harm".

 

May was cautious on whether she will win the support of the EU, saying only that she had "been talking to European leaders over the last week or so".

 

"This is a proposal that I believe will be good for the UK and good for the EU and I look forward to it being received positively," she told reporters.

 

But she has at least cleared yet another domestic hurdle.

 

She seems to have reassured pro-Brexit ministers that under the new negotiating position Britain will still be able to seek trade deals with the rest of the world, easing fears that mirroring EU rules for goods would rule that out.

 

They may also have been reassured by May reiterating her belief that any agreement with the EU should end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, although British courts would still have to "pay due regard" to its rulings.

 

And the agreed negotiating position also hands a big role for parliament to decide whether Britain should continue to follow EU rules and regulations, recognising that any rejection of them "would have consequences".

 

"This is a further step, an important further step, in our negotiations with the European Union," she said. "But of course we still have work to do with the EU in ensuring that we get to that end point in October. But this is good."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-07

[bristolboy]

It's a remarkably soft version of Brexit in a vague sort of way. Which is odd because being DOA, it should be a stiff.

[phantomfiddler]

Let,s just get out and be shot of these parasites ? Bring back real pork sausages and we can be British again !!

[mfd101]

Yes, or a remarkably vague version of Brexit in a soft sort of way.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Let,s just get out and be shot of these parasites ? Bring back real pork sausages and we can be British again !!

All the hardline Brexiteers is in the Cabinet folded and signed off on a soft negotiating position.

 

All you need to do now is understand you’ve been sold out by the very people who got your hopes up in the first place.

[vogie]

3 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

All the hardline Brexiteers is in the Cabinet folded and signed off on a soft negotiating position.

 

All you need to do now is understand you’ve been sold out by the very people who got your hopes up in the first place.

I wouldn't get ahead of yourself just yet, the EU have to agree to these proposals.

[Grouse]

Probably the least bad compromise. IF something like this is accepted by the EU, Corbyn will not get in, the Good Friday agreement will be unharmed, UK manufacturing supply chains will be unharmed and we avoid American food imports. In fact all we lose are our rebates and opt outs to keep Brexiters happy.

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, vogie said:

I wouldn't get ahead of yourself just yet, the EU have to agree to these proposals.

My guess is they’ll welcome the step away from hard Brexit then proceed to negotiate the PM back across her own ‘red lines’ (just like last time).

 

Of course the UK can refuse further ‘softening’ but the indications are the U.K. are backpedaling, that the hardliners don’t believe they can win their own case. Had they believed they could the UK would be getting a new PM this week.

 

The hardliners can’t win their own case and are unwilling to take the lead.

 

The hardline Brexit charlatans failed to deliver exactly when it was in their power to do so.

 

Look for the EU agreeing to proceed, more softening of Brexit and another extension to the negotiating period.

[brewsterbudgen]

If Brexit gets even softer, which it undoubtedly will once the EU respond to the proposals, it will mean squirming out of Brexit almost completely - "Brexit in name only".  Let's hope that happens, as a "hard Brexit" is too grim to contemplate as Mrs May well knows.  I think it's odds-on that a 2nd referendum will have to be held and hopefully the whole thing can be reversed. 

[Belzybob]

Title is a bit misleading. She has only secured an agreement in cabinet, not with Conservative MPs as a whole.

[dick dasterdly]

I only read one article on the proposals, and am as confused as ever!

 

As far as I could make out:-

 

1) Agreeing to comply with eu regulations re. food and services

2) Accepting the ECJ on issues regarding the above

3) Closing the 'open borders' so that only those with a guaranteed job are able to enter the uk

4) No payment to the eu

5) Able to trade freely with other countries

 

????

 

Hopefully posters will point out where I'm wrong in my understanding.

 

[JackScarlett]

The Brexit 7 have no need to resign over a plan that will not be accepted by the EU in its present form.   Does anyone honestly believe that they (the EU) will accept the UK agreeing to abide by its rules on trade but if the UK do not like a particular rule, the UK can ignore or change it.

 

Traitor May has to get it through Parliament before going to the EU with it and I very much doubt if the ERG lead by Jacob Rees-Mogg will vote for it in its present form.

 

So why resign over a plan that is not going to happen.

 

I am happy that No 10 have got a team working on a 'No Deal' scenario which given the current plan would be the best outcome.

 

[Bluespunk]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed the agreement but added on Twitter: "We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic."

Ah...pesky details.

 

If Gove backed them, they won’t be. 

Edited July 7, 2018 by Bluespunk

[Bluespunk]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The Times newspaper said, without citing sources, that May was taking a hard line and had promised senior allies that she would sack foreign minister Boris Johnson, a Brexit supporter, if he tried "to undermine the peace deal".

Yeah, right..believe it when I see it. 

[tebee]

It's an interesting proposal as it breaks what we are good at - selling services - in exchange for continuing what we are bad at - selling things we make.

Don't think the EU will accept it in its current form, but it could be the basis for something. A slow eraseing of red lines maybe?

[Chomper Higgot]

20 minutes ago, JackScarlett said:

The Brexit 7 have no need to resign over a plan that will not be accepted by the EU in its present form.   Does anyone honestly believe that they (the EU) will accept the UK agreeing to abide by its rules on trade but if the UK do not like a particular rule, the UK can ignore or change it.

 

Traitor May has to get it through Parliament before going to the EU with it and I very much doubt if the ERG lead by Jacob Rees-Mogg will vote for it in its present form.

 

So why resign over a plan that is not going to happen.

 

I am happy that No 10 have got a team working on a 'No Deal' scenario which given the current plan would be the best outcome.

 

Firstly is the accusation of ‘traitor’ necessary? 

 

The PM now has a ‘soft Brexit’ negotiating position agreed by her Cabinet (I do not believe she needs Parliamentary approval, I may be wrong).

 

This is a ‘negotiating position’ it is not a black and white demand.

 

I suspect the EU will be happy to negotiate and will achieve a ‘softer’ deal.

 

Hardline Brexiteers in the cabinet clearly buckled, it is they that have let Brexiteers down.

[The Renegade]

Theresa May

 

Quote

• The jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will end but the UK will pay regard to its decisions in areas where common rules were in force.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44747444

 

Michel Barnier

 

Quote

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, today warned the U.K. that it must accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in order to achieve a successful withdrawal treaty and transition period when leaving the EU.

https://www.politico.eu/article/barnier-tells-uk-to-accept-ecj-jurisdiction/

 

I think May can put her fantastic '' Deal '' straight in the bin where it belongs.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, The Renegade said:

Theresa May

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44747444

 

Michel Barnier

 

https://www.politico.eu/article/barnier-tells-uk-to-accept-ecj-jurisdiction/

 

I think May can put her fantastic '' Deal '' straight in the bin where it belongs.

Hardline a Brexiteers in her Cabinet disagree, they signed off on it.

 

The Charlatans that sold you Brexit are not delivering on the expectations they gave you.

[nauseus]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

Probably the least bad compromise. IF something like this is accepted by the EU, Corbyn will not get in, the Good Friday agreement will be unharmed, UK manufacturing supply chains will be unharmed and we avoid American food imports. In fact all we lose are our rebates and opt outs to keep Brexiters happy.

Happy? Doubt it.

[dick dasterdly]

51 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

I only read one article on the proposals, and am as confused as ever!

 

As far as I could make out:-

 

1) Agreeing to comply with eu regulations re. food and services

2) Accepting the ECJ on issues regarding the above

3) Closing the 'open borders' so that only those with a guaranteed job are able to enter the uk

4) No payment to the eu

5) Able to trade freely with other countries

 

????

 

Hopefully posters will point out where I'm wrong in my understanding.

 

 

23 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Firstly is the accusation of ‘traitor’ necessary? 

 

The PM now has a ‘soft Brexit’ negotiating position agreed by her Cabinet (I do not believe she needs Parliamentary approval, I may be wrong).

 

This is a ‘negotiating position’ it is not a black and white demand.

 

I suspect the EU will be happy to negotiate and will achieve a ‘softer’ deal.

 

Hardline Brexiteers in the cabinet clearly buckled, it is they that have let Brexiteers down.

I'm still waiting for a disputation of the points I made.

 

Are they right, or are they wrong?

 

Edit - Its pointless 'arguing' if we have no idea as to the 'agreement'.

Edited July 7, 2018 by dick dasterdly

[nauseus]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

All the hardline Brexiteers is in the Cabinet folded and signed off on a soft negotiating position.

 

All you need to do now is understand you’ve been sold out by the very people who got your hopes up in the first place.

The seven pro Brexit ministers knew they would lose the vote against the other twenty. What I do understand (needing neither instruction nor advice from you) is that the EU will probably reject this snotty soft boiled egg anyway; it will want something even snottier (a la Barniere) perhaps? 

[Cadbury]

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Let,s just get out and be shot of these parasites ? Bring back real pork sausages and we can be British again !!

I seem to recall Prime Minister James Hacker was the one to get rid of the Euro sausage which the EU referred to as the "high fat offal tube". He should be given credit for bringing back the British pork sausage.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Cadbury

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, nauseus said:

The seven pro Brexit ministers knew they would lose the vote against the other twenty. What I do understand (needing neither instruction nor advice from you) is that the EU will probably reject this snotty soft boiled egg anyway; it will want something even snottier (a la Barniere) perhaps? 

Let’s see what the future brings in what afterall Liam Fox predicted to be ‘the easiest negotiations in human history’.

 

I don’t recall giving ‘advice or instruction’ but I have expressed my opinion that the EU will see this as the U.K. starting negotiations on an even softer Brexit.

 

 

Hardline Brexiteers hoping for the EU to help them out by kicking back a softening UK position is to me wonderfully ironic; and, I feel, clutching at straws.

[Media1]

Old May slow old May

[tebee]

2 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

I only read one article on the proposals, and am as confused as ever!

 

As far as I could make out:-

 

1) Agreeing to comply with eu regulations re. food and services

2) Accepting the ECJ on issues regarding the above

3) Closing the 'open borders' so that only those with a guaranteed job are able to enter the uk

4) No payment to the eu

5) Able to trade freely with other countries

 

????

 

Hopefully posters will point out where I'm wrong in my understanding.

 

From my first  reading of it 

 

1 yes

2 yes 

3 yes - but also students ( and what about visitors?) And what's to stop me starting a company  up to offer jobs to people - for a small fee of course !

4 we will need to make payments to fund the regulatory authorities  that police number 1 above ( and presumably the ECJ to enforce decisions) 

5 no we are joining the customs union 

[nauseus]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Let’s see what the future brings in what afterall Liam Fox predicted to be ‘the easiest negotiations in human history’.

 

I don’t recall giving ‘advice or instruction’ but I have expressed my opinion that the EU will see this as the U.K. starting negotiations on an even softer Brexit.

 

 

Hardline Brexiteers hoping for the EU to help them out by kicking back a softening UK position is to me wonderfully ironic; and, I feel, clutching at straws.

All you need to do now is understand you’ve been sold out by the very people who got your hopes up in the first place.

[stephenterry]

I agree the EU will not accept this negotiation white paper as it stands. But the UK government has set out its cards on the table  - after two years of Brexit mismanagement - and the ball is in the EU court. 

 

However, TM now has the moral high-ground. She can tell both sides that is the cabinet's agreed position and if you don't like it, tough.

 

 

 

[dunroaming]

3 hours ago, Belzybob said:

Title is a bit misleading. She has only secured an agreement in cabinet, not with Conservative MPs as a whole.

That is true but as most Conservative MP's were remainers I doubt that will be a problem.  Johnson, Gove and JRM seem to have confirmed that they are in fact as gutless as we all thought.  Actually that may be a bit harsh.  We all knew we would end up here, it was just a matter of time.  As most of us have been saying from day one, the red lines May put in place were never going to be achieved.  However let's not get ahead of ourselves, I expect the EU will want it tweaking and more concessions and inevitably May will have to oblige. 

[dunroaming]

17 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

I agree the EU will not accept this negotiation white paper as it stands. But the UK government has set out its cards on the table  - after two years of Brexit mismanagement - and the ball is in the EU court. 

 

However, TM now has the moral high-ground. She can tell both sides that is the cabinet's agreed position and if you don't like it, tough.

 

 

 

Unfortunately I don't think the moral high-ground will butter many parsnips. ?

[tebee]

I wonder if this is the first step on the road to Norway+.

The hard brexiters have retreated and May may feel emboldened.

This will be rejected by the EU for the UK as a whole but could work as a NI solution. That will give us two years transition to make this work.