Theresa May rules out EU customs unions membership after Cabinet minister suggests it could happen
4 min read
Downing Street has insisted that Theresa May will not give ground on joining the EU's customs union - just minutes after a Cabinet minister refused to rule it out.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister - who suffered an historic House of Commons defeat on her Brexit deal last night - said membership of the tariff tie-up was "incompatible" with Britain striking its own trade deals.
That followed Justice Secretary David Gauke calling on the Government to be "flexible" in talks with opposition MPs on a way forward.
Leaving the customs union - which sees all EU member states agree to a common tariff on goods imported into the bloc - has long been a red line for Number 10 in its talks with the EU.
Theresa May has previously made leaving the customs a red line in her Brexit negotiations, but some Cabinet members believe that position should be ditched to help break the Commons deadlock.
Mr Gauke told the BBC's Politics Live that ministers should avoid "boxing ourselves in" as they make good on the Prime Minister's pledge last night to "listen" to the House of Commons and try to find a Brexit agreement a majority of MPs can support.
He was asked eight times whether membership of the customs union was now on the table in cross-party talks.
He said: "In my view, I share the view of the Cabinet that we should leave the customs union. But you know, that proposal, with other things, was voted down last night.
"I hope we can still find a majority in the House of Commons that is consistent with leaving the customs union.
"But we need to, at this point, I think need to be prepared to be flexible."
Pressed again, Mr Gauke added: "I think the right answer would be to leave the customs union. But given where we are we have to be open to proposals that are put forward and make an assessment on those numbers."
The Justice Secretary also took a swipe at Conservative colleagues who believe a no-deal Brexit - which would see Britain trade on World Trade Organisation Terms - would be better than staying in the customs union.
"I have to say some of our colleagues who are very keen that we have our own customs policy seem to be quite relaxed about trading on WTO terms with the European Union and I don't quite understand the logic of that," he said.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Mrs May's spokesperson said: "The principles that govern us as we go into these talks is that we want to, among other things, be able to do our own trade deals and that is incompatible with membership of either a or the customs union."
'DENIAL'
Labour has repeatedly argued that any Brexit agreement should include a permanent customs union with the EU, with Jeremy Corbyn today accusing the Prime Minister of being "in denial" about the scale of the defeat.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, he said: "Last night I suggested this was the largest government defeat since the 1920s.
"I would not wish to be accused of misleading the House. I've since been informed that it's in fact the largest ever defeat for a government in the history of our democracy.
"So Mr Speaker, shortly after the Prime Minister made her point of order last night, her spokesperson suggested the Government had ruled out any form of customs union with the European Union as part of a reaching out exercise. Can the Prime Minister confirm that's the case?"
But Mrs May shot back, accusing Mr Corbyn of having "no answer" to the Brexit deadlock and saying the Government was determined to "respect the votes of those that voted to leave in that referendum".
"That means ending free movement, it means getting a fairer deal for farmers and fishermen. It means opening up new opportunities to trade with the rest of the world.
"And it means keeping good ties with our neighbours in Europe."
She added: "He talks about being in denial. The only person in denial in this chamber is him because he has consistently failed to set out what his policy on Brexit is.
"I said to him last week that he might do with a lip reader. I think when it comes to his Brexit policy the rest of us need a mind reader."
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