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| Theresa May secures approval from cabinet to negotiate soft Brexit | Theresa May secures approval from cabinet to negotiate soft Brexit |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Theresa May has secured approval to negotiate a soft Brexit deal with the European Union, signing up her fractious cabinet at a Chequers awayday to a controversial plan to match EU standards on food and goods. | Theresa May has secured approval to negotiate a soft Brexit deal with the European Union, signing up her fractious cabinet at a Chequers awayday to a controversial plan to match EU standards on food and goods. |
| The prime minister released a statement following the critical afternoon session of the long-awaited summit that alarmed Tory hard Brexiters, in which she confirmed she had won over the cabinet to new customs arrangements ending political deadlock on the issue. | The prime minister released a statement following the critical afternoon session of the long-awaited summit that alarmed Tory hard Brexiters, in which she confirmed she had won over the cabinet to new customs arrangements ending political deadlock on the issue. |
| May said the cabinet had “agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU”. That included a proposal to “create a UK-EU free trade area which establishes a common rule book for industrial goods and agricultural products” after Brexit. | May said the cabinet had “agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU”. That included a proposal to “create a UK-EU free trade area which establishes a common rule book for industrial goods and agricultural products” after Brexit. |
| Tory Brexiters voiced concern at the agreement, while soft Brexiters expressed relief. Andrea Jenkyns, a hardline MP, complained that “British businesses will continue to be a rule taker from the EU” and said she would “pray” that the detail was not as bad as she feared. Heidi Allen, a moderate, said she was “pleased to report Theresa May has secured cabinet agreement for a sensible, soft Brexit”. | Tory Brexiters voiced concern at the agreement, while soft Brexiters expressed relief. Andrea Jenkyns, a hardline MP, complained that “British businesses will continue to be a rule taker from the EU” and said she would “pray” that the detail was not as bad as she feared. Heidi Allen, a moderate, said she was “pleased to report Theresa May has secured cabinet agreement for a sensible, soft Brexit”. |
| Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the influential European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conservatives, said he would not vote for a plan which crossed the red lines set out in Theresa May’s manifesto. | |
| Rees-Mogg said he was waiting to see the full details of the proposals but added: “This will require legislation and if, when we get the detailed legislation, it turns out that it is a punishment Brexit, that it is keeping us in the European Union in all but name, I will stick to the Conservative party’s manifesto commitments and will not vote for it.” | |
| He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he would wait to see if the red lines had “been turned pink” but warned that the common rulebook proposal could make “trade deals almost impossible” if it meant regulations would have to apply to any goods coming in to the UK. | |
| He added that “it is possible that this deal is worse” than a “no deal” Brexit. | |
| “As with eggs: an egg that is very softly boiled isn’t boiled at all. A very soft Brexit means that we haven’t left, we are simply a rule-taker. That is not something that this country voted for, it is not what the prime minister promised. | |
| “The prime minister will, I’m sure, stick to her word – that is crucially important – but I will certainly stick to the Conservatives’ manifesto commitments and will not vote for something that doesn’t deliver Brexit.” | |
| Cabinet Brexiter Chris Grayling acknowledged the deal could lead to issues in negotiating a US trade deal. | |
| The transport secretary said: “I didn’t campaign to leave the European Union to have a different specification of motor car on sale in the UK to the one that’s on sale in France. This is simply saying that we will effectively sell the same products across Europe as we do now – it’s what business does and would do anyway, nobody produces a different product for one country.” | |
| Asked what the common rulebook with the EU on food products would mean for the proposed US trade deal, Grayling told Today: “There may be individual issues to address in future trade talks.” | |
| The Commons leader Andrea Leadsom tweeted: | |
| As a passionate Brexiteer with huge optimism about future as a free trading nation, I agree with the PM that keeping the UK together is vital. Alignment on goods, with Parliament sovereign on each decision, free to trade, no more vast payments, ending free movement - good for UK https://t.co/9ZKQkxSaXc | |
| On Thursday, when the common rule book proposal was first leaked, hardline Brexiter cabinet ministers and Conservative MPs voiced alarm that it could prevent the UK striking a trade deal with the US, which has different standards in goods and foods, such as allowing chickens to be washed in chlorine. | On Thursday, when the common rule book proposal was first leaked, hardline Brexiter cabinet ministers and Conservative MPs voiced alarm that it could prevent the UK striking a trade deal with the US, which has different standards in goods and foods, such as allowing chickens to be washed in chlorine. |
| But May was able to release the text of a three-page agreed statement before cabinet, following a relatively undramatic day of discussions, sat down for dinner to listen to No 10 communications chiefs make a presentation on how to sell the new proposals. | But May was able to release the text of a three-page agreed statement before cabinet, following a relatively undramatic day of discussions, sat down for dinner to listen to No 10 communications chiefs make a presentation on how to sell the new proposals. |
| Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, appeared to react warmly to the proposals, noting in a tweet that the “Chequers discussion on future to be welcomed. I look forward to white paper. We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic”. The CBI and the Institute of Directors (IoD) business groups also voiced relief. | Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, appeared to react warmly to the proposals, noting in a tweet that the “Chequers discussion on future to be welcomed. I look forward to white paper. We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic”. The CBI and the Institute of Directors (IoD) business groups also voiced relief. |
| The prime minister made clear that she expected ministers would be sacked if they did not remain in line with her soft Brexit blueprint. She wrote to Tory MPs to explain her plans and included a clear warning about discipline: “As we developed our policy on Brexit, I have allowed cabinet colleagues to express their individual views. Agreement on this proposal marks the point where that is no longer the case and collective responsibility is now fully restored.” | The prime minister made clear that she expected ministers would be sacked if they did not remain in line with her soft Brexit blueprint. She wrote to Tory MPs to explain her plans and included a clear warning about discipline: “As we developed our policy on Brexit, I have allowed cabinet colleagues to express their individual views. Agreement on this proposal marks the point where that is no longer the case and collective responsibility is now fully restored.” |
| Ministers had been told to surrender their phones in line with what was described as “standard practice for cabinet meetings” when they arrived at Chequers at around 10am with none of their advisers present, meaning that they were not able to immediately present their version of events. | Ministers had been told to surrender their phones in line with what was described as “standard practice for cabinet meetings” when they arrived at Chequers at around 10am with none of their advisers present, meaning that they were not able to immediately present their version of events. |
| May had asked everybody with the right to attend cabinet to be present, a total of 29 people, meaning that a greater proportion of those present were expected to be loyal to her. Despite speculation that some ministers could stage a walkout through the Buckinghamshire countryside to the nearest train station, there was no sign of Boris Johnson or any other hard Brexiter leaving before dinner. One minister said that Johnson “was actually very big about it and by dinner spoke passionately in favour of making it work”. | May had asked everybody with the right to attend cabinet to be present, a total of 29 people, meaning that a greater proportion of those present were expected to be loyal to her. Despite speculation that some ministers could stage a walkout through the Buckinghamshire countryside to the nearest train station, there was no sign of Boris Johnson or any other hard Brexiter leaving before dinner. One minister said that Johnson “was actually very big about it and by dinner spoke passionately in favour of making it work”. |
| The cabinet agreement represents a rapid turnaround in a 24-hour period after the prime minister had been forced on to the defensive after the “common rule book” proposal was leaked. Seven cabinet ministers had met to discuss their concerns at the Foreign Office, led by Johnson and including Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt, David Davis, Liam Fox, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom. | The cabinet agreement represents a rapid turnaround in a 24-hour period after the prime minister had been forced on to the defensive after the “common rule book” proposal was leaked. Seven cabinet ministers had met to discuss their concerns at the Foreign Office, led by Johnson and including Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt, David Davis, Liam Fox, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom. |
| Johnson went on to see David Cameron on Thursday evening at a meeting in which the accounts of what happened were disputed on Friday. Sources close to Johnson tried to claim that the two men agreed the plans presented by the prime minister were “the worst of all worlds” and that he told his fellow Etonian he should finally take pride in Brexit, having called the referendum. | Johnson went on to see David Cameron on Thursday evening at a meeting in which the accounts of what happened were disputed on Friday. Sources close to Johnson tried to claim that the two men agreed the plans presented by the prime minister were “the worst of all worlds” and that he told his fellow Etonian he should finally take pride in Brexit, having called the referendum. |
| Cameron’s former spin doctor Sir Craig Oliver rebutted the claims, saying that the former prime minister had “always understood compromise will be necessary”. He added: “It’s also wrong to claim he sees himself as ‘the father of Brexit’. Why would that be true when he fought it tooth and nail?” | Cameron’s former spin doctor Sir Craig Oliver rebutted the claims, saying that the former prime minister had “always understood compromise will be necessary”. He added: “It’s also wrong to claim he sees himself as ‘the father of Brexit’. Why would that be true when he fought it tooth and nail?” |
| Others added that Cameron had even persuaded Johnson not to resign from the government. | Others added that Cameron had even persuaded Johnson not to resign from the government. |
| It will now be the job of cabinet members to brief MPs in the party as to the merits of the negotiating strategy proposed by May that will form the basis of a Brexit white paper due to be published next week. | It will now be the job of cabinet members to brief MPs in the party as to the merits of the negotiating strategy proposed by May that will form the basis of a Brexit white paper due to be published next week. |
| The government statement formally proposed a new “third way” for handling customs, ending the cabinet standoff between May’s once preferred “customs partnership” and the Brexiter’s “maximum facilitation” models. It said that the UK would propose a new “facilitated customs arrangement” which would see the UK levy its own tariffs and then refund the difference if the goods went on to the EU. | The government statement formally proposed a new “third way” for handling customs, ending the cabinet standoff between May’s once preferred “customs partnership” and the Brexiter’s “maximum facilitation” models. It said that the UK would propose a new “facilitated customs arrangement” which would see the UK levy its own tariffs and then refund the difference if the goods went on to the EU. |
| One Tory MP said that Jacob Rees-Mogg had messaged members of the European Research Group’s WhatsApp group telling them not to post their thoughts immediately, but instead to email them to him, giving his email address from the investment company he co-runs. | One Tory MP said that Jacob Rees-Mogg had messaged members of the European Research Group’s WhatsApp group telling them not to post their thoughts immediately, but instead to email them to him, giving his email address from the investment company he co-runs. |
| Stephen Martin, the director general of the IoD, said: “News that an agreement has been reached is very welcome. Our members have wanted cabinet to come together and put the interest of the country first, so firms across the UK will see this as a positive step forward.” | Stephen Martin, the director general of the IoD, said: “News that an agreement has been reached is very welcome. Our members have wanted cabinet to come together and put the interest of the country first, so firms across the UK will see this as a positive step forward.” |
| Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, would not be drawn into the detail of the trade deal row but, speaking earlier on Friday, reiterated Donald Trump’s desire to reach agreement with Britain. “The president has been clear since the beginning of his term – he wants to do a bilateral trade deal and he’s really ready to step up on that the minute he gets the go-ahead to do it. And he’ll get it done fast, as I know it’s a major priority for him,” he said. | Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, would not be drawn into the detail of the trade deal row but, speaking earlier on Friday, reiterated Donald Trump’s desire to reach agreement with Britain. “The president has been clear since the beginning of his term – he wants to do a bilateral trade deal and he’s really ready to step up on that the minute he gets the go-ahead to do it. And he’ll get it done fast, as I know it’s a major priority for him,” he said. |
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