We will not roll over for Brussels, says Brexit secretary

Dominic Raab has chided Tory Brexiters who are urging the prime minister to dump her Chequers proposals in favour of a Canada-style free-trade deal, insisting that the government will not “roll over” at the first signs of criticism from Brussels.

Raab, the Brexit secretary, told MPs on their return to the Commons after the summer recess that he was surprised that some backbenchers had demanded Theresa May “chuck Chequers” after the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, appeared to reject the plan.

Raab insisted the government would instead take a “resolute, tenacious” approach to the final stage of the negotiations and that Barnier was a man “we can work with”.

However, his optimism was denounced by a string of MPs including Tory Brexiters as well as members of the Commons Brexit committee, which held a private meeting in Brussels with Barnier on Monday.

The pro-Brexit Tory Sir Christopher Chope warned Raab against “self-delusion”, while the committee’s chair, Hilary Benn, claimed that there had been an “emphatic rejection” of the Chequers deal by the European commission.

A number of MPs at the meeting confirmed that Barnier had raised concerns about the key planks of the deal. Some claimed he proposed a Canada-style agreement instead, with security cooperation and mutual recognition of standards.

Pat McFadden, the Labour MP member for Wolverhampton South East, said: “It was not a bit of questioning or pushback, it was an emphatic and clear rejection of the facilitated customs arrangement and common rulebook.”

May faces a protracted battle to save her proposals from fierce criticism in her own party ranks. Boris Johnson, who resigned as foreign secretary over the Chequers plan, will headline a rally of up to 1,000 people at Tory party conference to protest against the proposals, undermining May’s attempts to reassure anxious members.

The cabinet has been told that the Chequers plan received a “warm and positive” response from European capitals during a Brexit diplomatic offensive over the summer. Raab also cited support from EU ministers.

Downing Street suggested the prime minister, who faces the Commons on Wednesday for the first time since the summer break, would go over the head of the European commission directly to the EU27 to secure a deal.

Her official spokesman said: “The negotiations are taking place with the commission, we have always respected that fact. But equally this is a decision that at the end of the process will be taken at a political level by the European council, so you can obviously expect a continued and strong engagement with fellow European countries.”

Updating MPs on negotiations, Raab said: “I’m mildly surprised at the suggestion that at the first sign of push-back from the EU we should roll over – that’s not what we’re going to do, we’re going to take a resolute, tenacious, approach to these negotiations.”

He added: “We explain our arguments so they’re completely understood, we try and resolve any concerns they’ve got and we try to pursue those negotiations in a spirit of pragmatism. If that’s matched on the other side, and I’m confident it will be, we’ll get a deal.”

He warned committee members against being used by the EU as part of a “pressure exercise” against the UK government. However, he conceded that Chequers challenged some of the “long-standing orthodoxies and dogmatic legalism” of the EU, adding: “There’s no point hiding from it.”

Tory Brexiters have stepped up their campaign against the Chequers proposals, which would keep the UK in a form of single market for goods with a bespoke customs arrangement with Brussels. The hardline European Research Group of Tory MPs met on Tuesday night to work out their path ahead.

Chope urged the government to “chuck Chequers” while the former Brexit minister David Jones queried how many more compromises the PM would make, and the former cabinet minister John Whittingdale called May’s plan flawed and suggested she accept a free-trade agreement instead.

Source: The Guardian