Number 10 lobby briefing on Brexit and James Mattis's letter to Gavin Williamson

2 min read02 July 2018

Here is a summary of this morning's briefing for lobby journalists by the Prime Minister's official spokesman.

BREXIT

On reports that the Prime Minister will present a third option on the UK's future customs relationship with the EU at this Friday's Cabinet meeting at Chequers, the spokesman said: "There is going to be a lot of speculation between now and Chequers. Some of it might even be true, but I'm not going to engage in it in advance of the away day taking place."

On comments by Jacob Rees-Mogg that the Prime Minister faces a Tory revolt if she compromises on her Brexit red lines, he said: "Our focus is on delivering the will of the British people and the Prime Minister has set out what she wants to achieve - that is to leave the single market, to leave the customs union, leave the jurisdiction of the ECJ and be free to sign and implement trade deals around the world."

JAMES MATTIS

On a letter from US Secretary of State for Defence, James Mattis, to his UK counterpart Gavin Williamson calling on the Government to spend more on the military, the spokesman said: "The UK has the biggest defence budget in Europe and the second biggest in Nato. I'd also point you to the Nato secretary general's own words following his meeting with the PM where he was clear that Nato appreciates Britain's commitment and leadership in the alliance."

Responding to questions about Britain's commitment to the Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence, he added: "The UK is above that 2% contribution and we have said that we will continue to meet Nato's target. You will know that we are committed to spending £179bn on equipment and support between 2017 and 2027 to ensure we are able to provide our Armed Forces with cutting edge equipment."

Asked if it was important for the UK to be America's number one partner, after General Mattis suggested Britain could be overtaken by France, the spokesman said: "We, the US and France are close allies and partners who are willing to act together in defence of our shared values and interests. There's a very recent example of that in the decisive action that we took together against the Syrian regime following the chemical weapons attack in Douma."