News

Tory internal divisions over Brexit talks undermined its own position with the EU, parliamentary committee finds

The criticism emerged in interim findings of an inquiry of the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee, after it took evidence from former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab and ex-ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman
The criticism emerged in interim findings of an inquiry of the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee, after it took evidence from former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab and ex-ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman The criticism emerged in interim findings of an inquiry of the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee, after it took evidence from former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab and ex-ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman

THE government's internal divisions over the handling of Brexit negotiations have undermined its own position in talks with the EU, a parliamentary committee has found.

The criticism emerged in interim findings of an inquiry of the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee, after it took evidence from former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab and ex-ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman.

Evidence from the four Leave-backing MPs suggested that separate – and sometimes conflicting – policies were developed by the Department for Exiting the EU and 10 Downing Street.

In a report released days ahead of the crucial second "meaningful vote" on Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, the committee said: "One of the most striking themes to have emerged from our evidence so far concerns the way in which the UK government itself has handled the process of negotiation internally.

"This seems to us to have left the government vulnerable to internal division and therefore capable of undermining its own negotiating position with the EU and potentially compromising the British position under draft Withdrawal Agreement itself.

"These conclusions are only provisional as our inquiry is ongoing, but we are concerned by what the evidence is showing us so far."

The committee said that internal divisions between government departments had limited the UK's ability to secure fundamental negotiating objectives.

It warned that if the Withdrawal Agreement enters into force, the UK could continue to be subject to EU law during the 21-month transition period and any period when the "backstop" is subsequently in force, without any say in framing it.

Members of the cross-party committee questioned how this could be squared with the prime minister's repeated promises that the UK would in future control its own laws.

And they said the terms of the Agreement could even undermine provisions to repeal the 1972 Act which first took the UK into the European Economic Community.

The MPs raised "concern" about the potentially indefinite duration of the backstop.

And the committee called on the Government to publish the results of the final round of negotiations currently under way in Brussels at the latest by Sunday evening – 48 hours before MPs vote on the deal on Tuesday.

Committee chairman Sir William Cash said: "Our unanimously-agreed interim report is intended to inform members across the House, as well as those following events throughout the country, ahead of the second 'meaningful vote' promised by the prime minister.

"It shines a light not just on the draft Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration that we will be voting on next week, but how internal government divisions have hamstrung its ability to negotiate effectively with the European Union – a key theme of evidence gathered in our inquiry to date.

"We also highlight how parliament's future legislative freedom will be constrained."