AP, London :
Pro-Brexit lawmakers are pressing British Prime Minister Theresa May not to keep the U.K. tied to the European Union’s customs union, as the bloc warns Britain to hurry up and decide what kind of relationship it wants.
As May’s inner “Brexit Cabinet” meets Wednesday, 60 euroskeptic Conservative legislators are arguing that staying in a customs union with the EU would prevent Britain from striking new trade deals around the world.
Other lawmakers, and many businesses, want Britain to keep customs alignment with the EU to avoid trade barriers.
That could also ease the problem of maintaining an invisible border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned this week that Britain must come up with a proposal for the Irish border by June. Pro-Brexit lawmakers pressure British PM May over customs plan Pro-Brexit lawmakers heaped pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday over her future customs plans with the European Union, calling on her to drop what some say is her preferred proposal.
May’s decision to leave the EU’s customs union, which sets tariffs for goods imported into the bloc, has become one of the main flashpoints in the Brexit debate in Britain, pitting companies and pro-EU campaigners against a vocal group of hardline euro skeptic lawmakers.
With the added pressure of trying to prevent the return of a “hard” border in Ireland and find something Brussels might agree to, May has delayed putting any firm plans for future customs arrangements on the table, hoping to plot a route that could at least please more than one side.
Just hours before May was due to meet her so-called Brexit war cabinet of 11 ministers, the pro-Brexit lawmakers called on her to drop one of her proposals which would see Britain essentially act as the EU’s tariff collector.
Members of the European Research Group, a group of Brexit lawmakers in May’s Conservative Party, said they were not issuing her an ultimatum with their demands, rather presenting their argument that such a customs partnership would not work.
“It is more of a statement of our position, with supporting arguments,” a member of the ERG said.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers are pressing British Prime Minister Theresa May not to keep the U.K. tied to the European Union’s customs union, as the bloc warns Britain to hurry up and decide what kind of relationship it wants.
As May’s inner “Brexit Cabinet” meets Wednesday, 60 euroskeptic Conservative legislators are arguing that staying in a customs union with the EU would prevent Britain from striking new trade deals around the world.
Other lawmakers, and many businesses, want Britain to keep customs alignment with the EU to avoid trade barriers.
That could also ease the problem of maintaining an invisible border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned this week that Britain must come up with a proposal for the Irish border by June. Pro-Brexit lawmakers pressure British PM May over customs plan Pro-Brexit lawmakers heaped pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday over her future customs plans with the European Union, calling on her to drop what some say is her preferred proposal.
May’s decision to leave the EU’s customs union, which sets tariffs for goods imported into the bloc, has become one of the main flashpoints in the Brexit debate in Britain, pitting companies and pro-EU campaigners against a vocal group of hardline euro skeptic lawmakers.
With the added pressure of trying to prevent the return of a “hard” border in Ireland and find something Brussels might agree to, May has delayed putting any firm plans for future customs arrangements on the table, hoping to plot a route that could at least please more than one side.
Just hours before May was due to meet her so-called Brexit war cabinet of 11 ministers, the pro-Brexit lawmakers called on her to drop one of her proposals which would see Britain essentially act as the EU’s tariff collector.
Members of the European Research Group, a group of Brexit lawmakers in May’s Conservative Party, said they were not issuing her an ultimatum with their demands, rather presenting their argument that such a customs partnership would not work.
“It is more of a statement of our position, with supporting arguments,” a member of the ERG said.
