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The barriers facing Northern Ireland farmers exporting across the border to food processing plants have been spelt out in a no-deal notice just published by the Irish government.
The notice for businesses importing animal or animal products shows almost insurmountable challenges under EU rules. It says:
Consignments of animals and animal products must be presented at the
border inspection post at the point of first arrival in the EU for
official controls in compliance with EU legislation.
This presents an immediate challenge as the only border inspection
posts in Ireland are in Dublin Airport, Dublin Port and Shannon Airport.
Even if a bare-bones deal was struck with border inspection posts
away from the border, it would take months to build; Eurotunnel have
taken three months to complete their new post.
Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit
negotiator, are likely to discuss the contingency plans for border
inspection post controls when they meet this afternoon but so far there
has been no indication where these checks can be made.
Farmers must also be registered for the EU’s trade control and expert
system in order to qualify as a third country exporter into the EU.
Another headache for exporters is that they must provide the buyer
across the border their veterinary documents required for entry into the
EU “at least 24 hours in advance”.
This will be a massive hurdle for anyone who owns a farm that
straddles both sides of the border or dairy farmers who have their milk
collected daily by one of the big co-ops south of the border.
Dairy UK has already warned that the 19p a litre tariff on milk would almost certainly kill this trade raising the prospect of an unwanted milk lake.
On the World at One, in the light of his letter calling for a new no confidence vote in Theresa May (see 1.05pm), Mark Francois
was asked why there should be a second vote when May won the one that
was held in December. It was force majeure, he replied. He went on:
If when that vote of confidence had taken place my colleagues had
known that the prime minister was prepared to sit down and negotiate
with a Marxist, someone who is utterly opposed to everything that we in
the Tory party believe, and that she would do so in order try and lead
us into a customs union, which is utterly against our manifesto
commitments, and which would mean that we would remain in the European Union,
the vote against her would have been far higher. Clearly, we did not
know at the time. But we know it now. And so, under those circumstances,
I believe it is very important that colleagues have a chance to express
their opinion on her leadership.
The Lib Dem MP Layla Moran said it was hypocritical of Francois to back a second vote on May, but not a second vote on Brexit. In a statement released by the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign she said:
Mark Francois has a point for once: how can a decision made prior to
the full picture being revealed be binding when its consequences are so
large?
It’s just a shame that Francois seems to want one thing for himself,
while making it his job to prevent the same opportunity being extended
to the public.
Any decision on something as big as Brexit needs to scrutinised by
the people. Whatever deal can be agreed on by politicians needs to have
the public’s sign off.
UPDATE: My colleague Jessica Elgot sums up the Moran argument particularly well.
Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot)
Mark Francois demands a re-run
of the last no confidence vote, claiming the electorate were not fully
informed about what they were voting for https://t.co/Co77sxaWBL
Starmer says 'ball is in government's court' in cross-party Brexit talks
Sir Keir Starmer,
the shadow Brexit secretary, told the BBC earlier that he had “no
doubt” there would be development in the cross-party Brexit talks today.
He said:
We had exchanges over the weekend but not talks - there are no
scheduled talks yet but I have no doubt things will develop today.
At the moment we’re waiting to see what the government is putting in the table as a proposal.
All they have done so far is to indicate various things but not to
change the political declaration, so the ball is in the government’s
court.
We need to see what they come back with and when they do we will take a collective position on that.
Sir Keir Starmer leaving the Cabinet Office after talks with the government on Thursday last week. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Andrew Bridgen, another hardline Tory Brexiter, told the BBC’s Politics Live that, like Mark Francois (see 1.05pm), he had also written to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, saying he had no confidence in Theresa May.
Andrew Bridgen Photograph: BBC
But Daniel Finkelstein, the Conservative peer and Times columnist who was also on the programme, and who is not a Brexiter,
You have not got the votes in parliament. It is really hard dealing
with this, because it seems to me so daft, to use a polite word for it.
You can’t get no-deal through parliament because 400 MPs are against it.
It doesn’t matter who the leader of the Conservative party is. This is
not about Theresa May.
And one of the reasons you failed to get rid of her last time you
pointlessly made a vote of no confidence in her, that just resulted in
strengthening her for a year, is that getting rid of her would make no
difference. And it is failing to appreciate that that has meant that you
have over-played your hand, over and over again, and are going to end
up possibly with a second referendum on a soft Brexit, and possibly a
Corbyn government thrown in. The tactical stupidity of this is
breathtaking.
Bridgen responded by saying that, even if only 160 MPs in parliament believed in Brexit, they were not isolated in the country. Some 80% of Tory activists and members supported his position, he claimed.
Tory Brexiter calls for confidence vote in May to sabotage her attempt to get further article 50 extension
Mark Francois, the Tory MP and vice chair of the European Research Group, which represents up to 80 Conservatives
pushing for a harder Brexit, has written to Sir Graham Brady, chairman
of the Conservative 1922 Committee, asking him to organise a vote of
confidence in the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon.
After May survived a Conservative party confidence vote in December
last year, she cannot be removed under party rules by another confidence
vote until December 2019, because this procedure cannot be used more
than once every 12 months.
But Francois does not seem too bothered by that. He is calling for
what he calls “an informal ‘indicative vote’ of confidence” in the PM.
And he also makes it clear that his primary aim is not to trigger May’s
resignation, but to persuade EU leaders to refuse an article 50
extension. He says:
If, therefore, my colleagues were to demonstrate prior to Wednesday
evening, in an indicative ballot say at 3pm, prior to the meeting of the
1922 Committee, that they have lost confidence in the prime minister I
believe that under those circumstances it is extremely unlikely that the
European council would grant an extension and we would, therefore,
leave the European Union on Friday night, as so many Tory MPs so obviously want. Our future is therefore literally in the hands of 313 Tory MPs.
Beth Rigby (@BethRigby)
NEW: Mark Francois writes to
Brady to request informal indicative vote of no confidence in PM on Weds
3pm b4 EUCO “I believe May has been a failure as Leader of our Party,
which she now threatens to destroy. Hers is a classic example of hubris –
and after hubris, comes nemesis.” pic.twitter.com/i6DCSgX3zd
1. Labour expecting updated
proposal from govt, hoping for more concessions on customs - more formal
talks possible this afternoon 2. Mini-cabinet at 1pm 3. Tory Brexiteer MPs trying to organise 'indicative' vote of no confidence in PM
Boris Johnson criticised by Commons standards watchdog for cavalier attitude to rules
Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, has been criticised in a report today from the Commons standards committee (pdf)
for adopting a cavalier attitude to Commons rules. The report covers
his failure to declare part-ownership of a property in Somerset in the
register of members’ interests. In normal circumstances this would count
as a trivial matter that would not merit a full standards committee
investigation, but Johnson has been criticised more harshly because this
is the second time this year that he has been caught not obeying the
rules relating to registering interests properly.
This is what Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, said about the case in her report to the committee.
I do not accept that this was an inadvertent breach of the rules. Mr
Johnson has co-operated fully with my inquiry, but his failure to check
properly that he had brought his register entry up to date during my
last inquiry might be regarded as showing a lack of respect for the
house’s rules and for the standards system. That does not demonstrate
the leadership, which one would expect of a longstanding and senior
member of the house, nor compliance with the general principles of
conduct.
And this is what the committee itself said.
We conclude with concern that these two investigations by the
commissioner in rapid succession demonstrate a pattern of behaviour by
Mr Johnson. While there is no suggestion that he has at any time tried
deliberately to conceal the extent of his interests, this latest breach
reinforces the view which we expressed in our previous report, that he
has displayed “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the
House”, in conjunction with “a lack of effective organisation within
[his] office”. We find it particularly regrettable that Mr Johnson gave
an assurance to the Commissioner that his registration of financial
interests was up to date, and within a very short period it proved not
to be.
The committee said that Johnson should be obliged to hold a
face-to-face meeting with the registrar of members’ interests to be
reminded of his obligations, and that if he were to break the rules
again, he would face a more serious sanction.
Boris Johnson. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, is making a business statement later.
If the Yvette Cooper bill, requiring the PM to request an article 50
extension, gets through the Lords later and gets royal assent today,
then there will have to be a debate on an article 50 extension in the
Commons tomorrow. Leadsom’s statement may cover this.
Here are the main points from the Number 10 lobby briefing.
Theresa May will visit Berlin and Paris tomorrow for talks
with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Emmanuel Macron, the
French president, ahead of the emergency EU summit on Wednesday. (See 11.39am.)
The government hopes to be able to resume formal talks with
Labour later today about a possible Brexit compromise, the prime
minister’s spokeswoman said. She said that there had been
“contact and dialogue” between the two sides over the weekend, but she
refused to give details. She went on:
Our intention is to engage further with the opposition today. Given
the need for urgency, we hope that that will lead to further formal
discussions [today].
The Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar thinks the government could make a written offer to Labour later today.
Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar)
NEW: My understanding is that
Government is considering putting a written offer in front of Labour
today - different from the proposal last week which didn’t include
changes to PD - with more talks later. But may just decide to go
straight for face-to-face talks.
The spokeswoman said that May wanted to reach an agreement
with Labour “as soon as possible” but she sidestepped questions about
whether this meant May needed a deal before the EU summit on Wednesday.
The spokeswoman refused to say if or when government-sponsored indicative votes might take place in the Commons.
May has said this might be an option, if the government and Labour
cannot agree on a compromise plan, provided both main parties agree to
be bound by the outcome. But Downing Street conceded that no debate has
yet been scheduled, and May’s visit to Berlin and Paris tomorrow means
that the chances of a debate before the EU summit on Wednesday seem
remote.
The spokeswoman confirmed that May accepted the need to compromise in the Brexit talks with Labour. Asked what May’s stance was on the prospect of the UK staying in a customs union with the EU, the spokeswoman said:
[The PM] has said on countless occasions that she wants the UK to be
able to able to have an independent trading policy. She has also said
that, unless there is compromise on both sides, it is unlikely we can
find a way forward.
The spokeswoman said that no cabinet meeting has been scheduled yet for this week.
Cabinet normally takes place on Tuesday morning, but that is not an
option because of the PM’s visit to Berlin and Paris. The spokeswoman
did not rule out a cabinet meeting this week, but she implied that May
could arrive in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon for the EU summit
without cabinet having met beforehand.
The spokeswoman dismissed suggestions that Labour figures could be invited to accompany May at the EU summit. Asked about this, the spokeswoman said: “I’m not aware of any plans of that nature.”
10 Downing Street Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
May flying to Berlin and Paris in bid to persuade EU to agree to article 50 extension
I’m back from the lobby briefing, and here is the main news.
Theresa May will visit Berlin and Paris tomorrow for talks
with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Emmanuel Macron, the
French president, ahead of the emergency EU summit on Wednesday.
Downing Street said it was normal for May to speak to fellow EU leaders
ahead of a European council, but a last-minute tour of the two most
powerful capitals in Europe is unusual and it sounds as if May is doing
her utmost to persuade Merkel and Macron to agree to an article 50
extension. May is also due to speak to other EU leaders later today.
I will post a full summary of the briefing shortly.
Hunt hints government open to customs union compromise, saying 'big red lines' should not apply in talks with Labour
At the weekend Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said that there were “no red lines” for the government in its talks with Labour aimed at finding a Brexit compromise. This morning, in a doorstep on his arrival at the EU foreign affairs council, Jeremy Hunt,
the foreign secretary, said more or less exactly the same thing. In
normal circumstances cabinet ministers adopting the same line would not
count as news. But cabinet discipline is now so threadbare that it
starts to become interesting. For Hammond, perhaps the cabinet’s leading
pro-European, to say “no red lines”, implying he is open to a customs
union, is not a surprise. But for Hunt, a remain-voter who is now
reinventing himself as a Brexiter, to say the same thing is a bit more
noteworthy.
Here are the main points from the Hunt doorstep.
Hunt hinted that the government would be open to a customs
union compromsie, saying there would be no point having talks with
Labour if the government was constrained by “big red lines”. Asked if accepting a customs union would be the price for a deal with Labour, he said:
Well, we don’t have a majority in parliament, and so we have to look
to other parties to seek agreement that will allow us to get Brexit over
the line in parliament as the law requires. You can’t go into any of
those discussions with big red lines because otherwise there’s no point
in having them, but we are very clear about the type of Brexit that we want. That’s in our manifesto, and we’ve made that clear.
So what I think I will be saying to me colleagues in the European Union
today is you can see from this that Theresa May is leaving no stone
unturned to try and resolve Brexit. They want Brexit to be resolved as
quickly as possible, so do we, so do the British people, so do MPs, and
so we are doing absolutely everything we can to try and get a resolution
to get Brexit over the line.
He said the fact that May was willing to negotiate with Labour showed how committed she was to achieving a Brexit deal. He said:
Those people in the European council, Theresa May’s counterparts, the
other European leaders, have been saying for some time Theresa May
needs to open cross-party talks to try and find a consensus to get a
Brexit agreement over the line, and that’s what she’s doing. And in our
system that is very, very difficult. For Theresa May
to open talks with someone like Jeremy Corbyn is not at all easy. But
she is doing that because she is totally and utterly determined to
deliver Brexit for the British people.
He insisted that the government was sincere about wanting to
find a deal with Labour - but he refused to say he was confident about
it happening. Asked if he was confidence about the government reaching a deal with Labour, he replied:
I can’t tell you that I’m very confident or that I’m not confident.
We are going into these talks sincerely, and we have to see what the
outcome is.
EU foreign ministers have been arriving for an EU foreign affairs council meeting in Luxembourg. At least two of them, Teodor Melescanu, the Romanian foreign minister, and Timo Soini, the Finish foreign minister, have said they would back an article 50 extension.
Georg von Harrach (@georgvh)
EU rotating presidency (currently Romania): If there is a need for an extension, we will prepare all the logistics to do so. #brexitpic.twitter.com/4D44mGPAON
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit
negotiator, is flying to Dublin today to meet the taoiseach, his deputy
and the finance minister for talks ahead of Wednesday’s European
council summit.
With no sight of an agreement between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, no-deal planning will very much be on the agenda.
Over the weekend Leo Varadkar said it would be “logical” for checks
on goods coming in from the UK to be carried out in Belfast and Larne as
a way of protecting the single market while keeping the border with the
republic invisible.
He expects the UK government to deliver the promise made in the
December 2017 joint report with all the provisions of the backstop,
including customs checks at Northern Ireland ports to put in place in
the event of a no-deal scenario. Barnier will meet Varadkar at 2.30pm
with a press statement expected at 3.30pm.
“The meeting will be an opportunity for the two to discuss the
situation regarding Brexit, ahead of the European Council meeting in
Brussels later this week,” said a spokesman.
Customs union 'most likely outcome' from Labour/government compromise, says minister
The UK is now just four days away from the latest Brexit
deadline and, unless another article 50 extension is agreed at the
emergency EU summit on Wednesday (which probably will happen, although
it is not inevitable), it will slam into no-deal at 11pm on Friday.
That’s why Theresa May is still trying to cobble together a last-minute compromise acceptable to Labour. She released an uncharacteristically homespun video yesterday defending her decision to reach out to the opposition and, as my colleague Peter Walker reports, talks between the government and Labour continue today.
Last night, on the Westminster Hour, Robert Buckland,
the solicitor general, claimed that a cross-party deal to support the
UK staying in a customs union with the EU was the most likely compromise
that might be achieved. He said:
Whilst I don’t pretend it’s ideal – I think there are some real
drawbacks with it – it does mean we deliver the end to freedom of
movement and it does mean that we deliver the vast majority of, I think,
the aims of Brexit, which was to leave the institutions of the European Union.
It’s not perfect, but frankly in this particular hung parliament none
of us can get perfection, we need to compromise… something approximating
a customs arrangement or customs union I think would be the most likely
outcome.
But Buckland, who voted remain, was not reflecting a consensus view amongst ministers. Yesterday Andrea Leadsom,
the Brexiter leader of the Commons, indicated that this would be
unacceptable. Asked if May would agree to a full customs union, Leadsom
said:
My expectation – and I’m not party to the discussions – is that the
prime minister will only seek to agree those things that still
constitute Brexit.
And this morning, in his Telegraph column (paywall), Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, said a customs union would be the “worst of both worlds”. He said:
In order to get Corbyn onside, the government is apparently willing
to abandon the cardinal principle and central logic of Brexit. Jeremy
Corbyn and his team have demanded that the UK must somehow leave the EU,
but remain in the customs union. That is their price. If the government
were to agree, it would not only mean repudiating a manifesto pledge,
and tearing up a promise made thousands of times in parliament and
elsewhere. It is far worse than that.
If the UK were to commit to remaining in the customs union, it would
make a total and utter nonsense of the referendum result. We would be
out of the EU, but in many ways still run by the EU. It would be the
worst of both worlds, not just now, but forever – and that is why I find
the news so appalling that I don’t really believe it.
Here is the agenda for the day. 11am: Downing Street lobby briefing. 3pm: Peers are due to start debating the remaining stages of
the Yvette Cooper bill requiring the PM to request an article 50
extension. 3.30pm: Michael Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is due to meet Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, in Dublin. 3.30pm: Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, is due to make a Commons statement about the online harms white paper. 5.30pm: Jeremy Corbyn is due to meet Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Fein leader, in London.
And the government/Labour Brexit talks are due to continue, although we don’t have details as to how and when
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens,
as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the
web, although I expect to be focusing mostly on Brexit. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news.And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but it is impossible to read them
all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere
and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if
they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply ATL,
although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.
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Georg von Harrach (@georgvh)
Finnish Finnish Foreign Minister, Timo Soini: If #brexit extension is needed, it should be granted. pic.twitter.com/Ko7l3Xt2pOApril 8, 2019
