John Redwood won a free place at Kent College, Canterbury, He graduated from Magdalen College Oxford, has a DPhil and is a fellow of All Souls College. A businessman by background, he has been a director of NM Rothschild merchant bank and chairman of a… read more
John Redwood won a free place at Kent College, Canterbury, He graduated from Magdalen College Oxford, has a DPhil and is a fellow of All Souls College. A businessman by background, he has been a director of NM Rothschild merchant bank and chairman of a… read more
In an
interview this morning with Sky News, Theresa May said she hoped Britain will
have been able to “look at” the future trade deal with the EU by the time
Britain formally leaves the EU in March 2019.
“[L]et’s look at the whole question of the where we end up at the end of this negotiation. Have we looked, will we have looked at both withdrawal and the future relationship, that’s what’s important … That’s what I’m asking for and that’s what I believe increasingly we will see.”
Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017
She also conceded, for the first time, that the UK will have to sign the future trade deal with the EU as a third country. Given that the deal will be a ‘mixed agreement’, it will need to be ratified unanimously by all member states.
FI: Can you clarify that you accept what the European Council suggested which is that the final deal will be done as a third country status under a unanimous vote with everyone having a veto?
TM: There’s obviously a legal situation
in terms of how the European Union can conduct trade negotiations.
Theresa May, Sky News, 4 April 2017
This is a significant retreat from what she and the Brexit secretary have previously said – in effect that Britain will be able to negotiate and finalise a new free trade agreement alongside the exit agreement by the end of the two year period. They have until now been adamant that any transitional period would be purely for “implementation” and “adjustment” of systems, rather than for negotiation of the terms of the future trade deal.
Responding, Labour’s shadow Brexit minister Paul Blomfield said:
“It is less than a week since the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, and it seems every day brings another broken promise from the Government. First they said immigration may go up after Brexit. Now they are backpedalling on trade deals.
“We will hold the Government to account on the pledges made to the British people during the referendum campaign and since. They promised a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU giving the “exact same benefits” we have now. They said it would be ready for the day we leave, along with new trade deals with other countries.
“Now, as they face reality, they are trying to downplay expectations. They need to spell out the transitional deal that will be in place, to stop the economy falling off a cliff edge without new agreements in two years time.”
read moreFixing the sea wall cost £2.4 million and will prevent a repeat of the damage from last year’s storms. read more
John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on reports that 100,000 jobs in the City of London are at risk due to the failure of the Tories’ Brexit negotiations, said:
“This threat to 100,000 jobs was all too predictable given the Tories’ extreme approach to the Brexit negotiations. This is yet another major concern facing our country since Theresa May triggered Article 50, and yet Tory ministers appear stunned and unprepared when obvious issues arise.
“We need to know immediately from the Government what its strategy is to protect jobs in the finance sector, because all we have witnessed so far is silent bewilderment.
“Labour will fight for a Brexit that works for everyone, unlike the hard right Tory elite who want a low-wage, tax-haven bargain basement economy. Our six tests, including preserving existing benefits of membership, must be met before Labour will support any Brexit deal.”
Ends
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