Falklands : Tory Eurosceptics' plan for Brexit: a new force to defend the Falklands
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 09.09.2018 (Current Article)
European Research Group draft also includes Canada-style trade deal, tax cuts and a new missile defence system
Tory Eurosceptics' plan for Brexit: a new force to defend the Falklands
European Research Group draft also includes Canada-style trade deal, tax cuts and a new missile defence system
Peter Walker Political correspondent
Sun 9 Sep 2018 16.58 BST
A draft plan for Brexit to be proposed by Tory Eurosceptics includes significant tax cuts, as well as more eyebrow-raising ideas such as a new military expeditionary force to defend the Falklands and a domestic-built missile defence system, according to a leaked version.
The document from the European Research Group (ERG), which corrals the bulk of the hard Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs, also argues for a so-called invisible customs frontier on the Irish border, with any checks carried out away from the frontier.
After extracts of the leak were carried by several Sunday newspapers, the ERG’s head, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, said it was an early draft, mainly focused on assuaging worries about how an exit could see the UK reliant on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.
Amid a concerted effort by the ERG and allied groups to derail Theresa May’s Chequers plan, the group’s counter-proposals are intended to refute the charge that Tory Eurosceptics have no coherent ideas of their own.
Quick guide
Will the Chequers agreement survive?
Who dislikes the Chequers agreement and why?
Noisiest in their opposition are Tory Brexiters, not least David Davis and Boris Johnson, both of whom quit the cabinet in protest. They argue that the promise to maintain a common rulebook for goods and other continued alignment will mean a post-Brexit UK is tied to the EU without having a say on future rules, rather than being a free-trading independent nation.
Labour has also disparaged the proposal, expressing deep scepticism about the so-called facilitated customs arrangement system.
What about the EU?
Brussels has sought to stay positive, but has deep concerns about elements of the plan viewed as overly pick-and-mix, and thus potentially incompatible with EU principles.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, says he opposes both the customs plan and the idea of alignment for goods. He also makes plain his contention that the Chequers plan contains no workable idea for the Ireland-Northern Ireland border.
But at the same time the EU has been careful to not entirely dismiss the proposals, raising the possibility it could accept some adapted version.
Who supports the agreement?
Officially, May and her cabinet, though even here the backing can seem lukewarm at times. Asked about Chequers, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, said it was the government’s plan “right now”, indicating alternative ideas could be considered.
Is it doomed?
Even May’s allies concede it will be a hugely difficult task to get the plan through parliament. Damian Green, the PM’s close friend and former de fact deputy, described the process as “walking a narrow path with people chucking rocks at us from both sides”.
On the remain side of the Conservatives, the former education secretary Justine Greening called the Chequers plan “more unpopular than the poll tax”, saying May should start again from scratch.
If anything can save the plan – and it’s an outside shot – it will be a combination of the hugely tight timetable and the fact that, as yet, no one else has yet produced a plan with a better chance of being accepted by parliament.
What happens next?
On 20 September, an informal gathering in Salzburg, Austria, will provide a snapshot of current EU thinking. Then, 10 days later, the Conservative conference could show the Chequers plan is holed below the waterline.
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