May secures cabinet Brexit deal

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Europe

British Prime Minister Theresa May secured a cabinet agreement on Friday for her plans to leave the European Union, overcoming rifts among her ministers to win support for "a business-friendly" proposal aimed at spurring stalled Brexit talks.

After an hours-long meeting at her Chequers country residence, May seemed to have persuaded the most vocal Brexit campaigners in the cabinet to back her plan to press for "a free trade area for goods" with the EU and maintain close trade ties.

Chequers, the British prime minister's official country residence, near Ellesborough in southern England. /VCG Photo‍

The agreed proposal – which also says Britain's large services sector will not have the current levels of access to EU markets – will not come soon enough for Brussels, which has been pressing May to come up with a detailed vision for future ties.

But the hard-won compromise may yet fall flat with EU negotiators.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and British Prime Minister Theresa May give statements to the media prior to talks at the Chancellery on July 5, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. /VCG Photo

By also committing to ending free movement of people, the supremacy of the European court and "vast" payments to the bloc, May could be accused of "cherry-picking" the best bits of the EU by Brussels officials, who are determined to send a strong signal to other countries not to follow Britain out of the door.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed the agreement but added on Twitter: "We will assess proposals to see if they are workable and realistic."

For now, May, who has been written off by critics regularly since losing her Conservative Party's parliamentary majority in an ill-judged election last year, will be buoyed by the hard-won agreement.

Britain's foreign secretary Boris Johnson (L), Brexit secretary David Davis (C) and defense secretary Gavin Williamson leave 10 Downing Street in central London after attending a Cabinet meeting on July 3, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

"Today in detailed discussions the cabinet has agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU," May said in a statement. "Now we must all move at pace to negotiate our proposal with the EU to deliver the prosperous and secure future all our people deserve."

In a document outlining the government's position, ministers said they had agreed that an earlier proposal made to the EU "needed to evolve in order to provide a precise, responsible and credible basis for progressing negotiations".

Instead, they had agreed to negotiate for a "free trade area for goods," one that would see Britain having a "common rulebook for all goods" in a combined customs territory. This would allow Britain to set its own import tariffs and seal new free trade deals.

Theresa May (L) makes a statement in the House of Commons, London on the EU summit and Brexit developments on July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

They also agreed that parliament would have the power to decide whether to follow EU rules and regulations in the future, and the government would step up preparations for the eventuality of a "no deal" exit.

But for both sides of the Brexit debate – the hardline eurosceptics and the staunch EU supporters – the agreed negotiating position was not enough.

John Longworth, a chairman of campaign group Leave Means Leave, accused May of personally deceiving Brexit campaigners.

"May's Brexit means BRINO – 'Brexit In Name Only' – a fake Brexit."

Members of Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet mingle in the Great Hall at the Prime Minister's rural country residence, Chequers, west of London on July 6, 2018. /VCG Photo

Pro-EU Labour lawmaker Chuka Umunna described it as "yet another behind-closed-doors stitch up that would leave us all worse off."

The Times newspaper said, without citing sources, that May was taking a hard line and had promised senior allies that she would sack foreign minister Boris Johnson, a Brexit supporter, if he tried "to undermine the peace deal."

The agreed negotiating position also hands a big role for parliament to decide whether Britain should continue to follow EU rules and regulations, recognizing that any rejection of them "would have consequences."

"This is a further step, an important further step, in our negotiations with the European Union," she said. "But of course we still have work to do with the EU in ensuring that we get to that end point in October. But this is good."

(Cover: Theresa May speaks to members of her cabinet at the Prime Minister's rural country residence, Chequers, west of London on July 6, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters