Politics

Ministers put off decision on post-Brexit customs arrangements

British Prime Minister Theresa May said there must be no hard border after Brexit. Picture by Press Association
British Prime Minister Theresa May said there must be no hard border after Brexit. Picture by Press Association British Prime Minister Theresa May said there must be no hard border after Brexit. Picture by Press Association

A DECISION on the UK's customs arrangements after Brexit has been put off, after a crunch meeting of senior ministers failed to reach agreement.

Prime Minister Theresa May asked officials to draw up "revised proposals" after her "Brexit war cabinet" was unable to unite behind one of the two options on the table - both of which have already been dismissed as "unworkable" by EU officials.

Downing Street sources said ministers recognised that there were "challenges" with both of the proposed solutions, first put forward last summer.

Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins and his team are expected to come forward with amended proposals swiftly so that ministers can arrive at a preferred option, possibly as early as next week.

New Cabinet members Sajid Javid and Gavin Williamson both came out in the meeting against the "customs partnership" model, under which the UK would collect tariffs on behalf of the EU.

Their opposition came after Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers signalled that they regarded the partnership plan - branded "cretinous" by Jacob Rees-Mogg - as unacceptable, because it would deliver Brexit in name only.

The Home Secretary and Defence Secretary are understood to have joined senior Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox in voicing a preference for the so-called "maximum facilitation" arrangement - known as "Max Fac" - which would use new technology to avoid the need for checks at the Irish border.

In the meeting, Mrs May told colleagues that the final arrangement must ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and no customs border down the Irish Sea, and leave trade with the remaining EU "as frictionless as possible".

While the committee regarded both the partnership and Max Fac options as "serious proposals", it was agreed that there were challenges with both that needed to be addressed.

Concerns were voiced over whether the technological solution would satisfy concerns in Brussels about the potential for a porous border and whether the partnership arrangement would allow the UK to have a truly independent trade policy.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned there is a real risk the European Union will fail to reach a withdrawal deal with the UK by an October deadline unless meaningful progress is made by an EU summit in June.

The Fine Gael leader was speaking during Taoiseach's Questions in the Dáil.

Mr Varadkar said the EU guidelines were "very clear about June" and the situation would be reviewed at the summit.

He said the 'EU27' was united and that Ireland's position was "the position of the 27 member states who negotiate from a position of strength".

"Our position is that we will review progress at the meeting in Brussels in June and we want to see real and meaningful progress by June if we are going to meet that December deadline and there is a real risk that we won't meet the October deadline if we don't see real and meaningful progress in June," he said.

The taoiseach added: "It is still early May – there are shifting sands. There is an important UK cabinet meeting under way today and there are parliamentary votes of significance happening across the water now. So we need to take this as an evolving situation.

"We are very far from what the maximum amount of progress that can be achieved in June is."