THE British Chancellor was accused last night of caving in to hard-line Brexiteers after accepting a withdrawal from the European single market and customs union.
Philip Hammond came together with international trade secretary Liam Fox to declare there could be no "back door" attempt to keep Britain in the EU.
In a joint article for the Sunday Telegraph, they agreed that while a period of transition would be needed after 2019 to prevent a damaging "cliff-edge" break with the EU, it would be "time limited" and would mean pulling out of both the single market and customs union.
Prime minister Theresa May will hope the intervention will cool temperatures in Tory ranks amid divisions over Brexit and speculation of a possible leadership challenge when MPs return to Westminster next month.
However, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said it was clear Mr Hammond – who favours a "softer" pro-business Brexit – had lost his power struggle with the Brexiteers.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also said: "Philip Hammond and Liam Fox may be attempting to publicly iron out their differences, but all indications show that their government's proposals remain entirely unacceptable to the island of Ireland and therefore must remain unacceptable to the European Union.
"Back of the envelope proposals on 'very advanced CCTV cameras' at the border don't even enter into the realm of a serious suggestion or a credible solution."
