Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Most cabinet ministers 'want Canada-style free trade deal with EU'

Theresa May to be urged to ditch her Chequers plan after rejection by bloc

Sunday 23 September 2018 20:51 EDT
Comments
Jeremy Hunt hints UK could accept Canada-style trade deal if EU rejects Chequers Brexit plan

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Most of Theresa May's cabinet ministers now support a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU, according to reports.

The Prime Minister will be urged to ditch her Chequers plan following its rejection in Salzburg and instead pursue a "clean Brexit", it is claimed.

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is one of those cabinet members who is thought to be fighting to convince Ms May to change her approach to negotiations.

Other supporters of a Canada-style free trade agreement are said to include Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey.

However other cabinet ministers, including Chancellor Philip Hammond, are said to favour a Norway-style deal which involves continued membership of the European Economic Area.

“In a nutshell, we now face a choice between a Norway-type deal and a Canada-type deal,” a source told The Daily Telegraph.

“More than half the cabinet now support the idea of a Canada-style option, while there are maybe half a dozen who favour Norway.

“This has now become about encouraging the PM to change her own mind and lending their support to do that. There’s no sense whatsoever that she needs to go, just that she needs to change her mind.”

The prime minister has so far promoted her Chequers plan as the only deal which would avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland.

After declaring that talks were at an “impasse” on Friday, Ms May said that staying inside the European Economic Area and customs union would make a mockery of the referendum result.

She also claimed that parliament had already rejected the EU's second proposal of a trade deal that involved Norther Ireland remaining in the single market and customs union.

“Anything which fails to respect the referendum or which effectively divides our country in two would be a bad deal and I have always said no deal is better than a bad deal,” Ms May added.

The suggestion that the cabinet now favours a Canada-style deal comes hours after Brexit secretary Dominic Raab said the idea was “off the table”.

Mr Raab said that approach "can't be right" because the European Union would demand unacceptable conditions on Ireland.

“What they’re suggesting is not just a free trade but for us to stay locked in or for Northern Ireland specifically to stay locked into the customs union.

“Now that would be a clear carve up of the United Kingdom in economic terms.”

A so-called Canada-plus-plus-plus deal is said to be the basis of the alternative plan for Brexit drawn up by Tory Leave rebels.

Jeremy Hunt refused to rule out a Canada-style deal on Saturday despite insisting that the government preferred to continue pursuing the Chequers plan.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in