UK cabinet ministers revolt over Theresa May's soft Brexit plan

Prime Minister Theresa May is battling a Cabinet revolt over her plan to tie the U.K. closely to European Union trade rules, in a clash that risks destroying the chance to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations.

Just hours before May’s team is due to finalize the U.K. blueprint, her Brexit Secretary David Davis is fighting her over her proposal for a close customs deal with the EU, a person familiar with the matter said.

In a sign of the depths of their concerns, seven pro-Brexit Cabinet ministers met in Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s offices on Thursday night to discuss how to handle May’s proposals. Trade Secretary Liam Fox went on to meet May her office in 10 Downing Street to raise concerns over her package.

A person familiar with the meeting said it was constructive and ministers wanted to work through the issues of concern with May. As well as Johnson and Davis, the ministers present at the meeting included Fox, Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, and Michael Gove, the environment secretary, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Davis also wants to ditch May’s plan to align British regulations on goods with the EU’s rules to smooth trade in key sectors such as manufacturing and agri-food, while other ministers are also deeply opposed. For her part, the premier is ready for the fight, one of her senior allies said.

"If true, this would be a complete breach of Theresa May’s manifesto commitment” to leave the EU single market, customs union and the bloc’s court, said Owen Paterson, a former Cabinet minister and Brexit campaigner. "We would be out of Europe but still run by Europe.”

The rebellion by Davis -- the minister leading Britain’s divorce negotiations with the EU --came as May settled on the type of Brexit she wants. The EU is pushing May to come up with a credible and workable plan for the future trade relationship, warning that time is running out for negotiating an agreement before exit day next March.

May has summoned her Cabinet to an all-day meeting at her country residence, Chequers, on Friday, with the goal of securing their agreement for an overarching plan to take to the EU. She’s proposing the U.K. should leave the EU’s customs union, but collect tariffs at EU rates on goods crossing the border destined for the bloc.

At least three Cabinet-level Brexit campaigners are said to be against May’s so-called "white paper” on the future U.K.-EU trade deal, which she sent to ministers on Thursday. People familiar with the matter said Brexit backers among May’s top team are worried that she’s betraying their vision of a clean split with the bloc that will enable Britain to strike free trade deals with countries around the world such as the U.S.

Merkel Unhappy Too

Pro-Brexit ministers are angry that the plan was developed without consulting senior Cabinet members who were supposed to be working on a customs solution. It has also received a chilly response from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

A draft of May’s proposal was leaked on Thursday, including a line saying it wouldn’t "allow the U.K. to accommodate a likely ask from the U.S. in a future trade deal.” That upset the "Brexiteers” in the Cabinet who have made an American trade deal one of their key aims.

May’s office hit back at the leak, with one official saying the line had been selectively quoted. The prime minister’s spokeswoman Alison Donnelly said May remains committed to seeking an agreement with America.

"It is categorically untrue to suggest that we will not be able to strike a trade deal with the U.S.,” she said.

According to one of May’s Cabinet allies, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the prime minister views other kinds of relationship with the EU -- typically ones modelled on Canada’s or on Norway’s -- as either unacceptable or unworkable.

Quitting without a deal, as proposed by some in her Conservative Party, would leave the U.K. in a bitter and acrimonious relationship with the EU just as it was trying to sort out the series of side-deals in areas such as aviation that Britain would still need.

While May’s delay in making a decision on Brexit has been characterized by weakness, and left some in her government wondering if she would ever make a decision, the minister said this had been a strategy aimed at leading her internal opponents to the same conclusion as her about the viable options.

At Chequers, the minister said, she was prepared to push for what she wanted, even if it meant upsetting people.