Davis rejects May’s Brexit plans

David Davis has plans to revolt over Theresa May’s stance on the issue of the Northern Ireland hard border. The Brexit secretary will push to ensure a firm end date to the government’s backstop plan -which avoids a hard border – is decided, according to reports.

The backstop would in effect keep the whole of the UK in key areas of the customs union, in order to make time to find a permanent solution to the Irish border issue. Government sources report that a four-page draft of the backstop proposal circulated within the cabinet had prompted concerns, as it lacked a mention of a time limit for the interim solution.

Several sources have indicated the possibility of David Davis resigning, should he not get what he wants out of this week’s meetings. However, Davis’ own camp has downplayed this, with one source claiming he and the PM “have always been committed” to the time-limited nature of the backstop.

MPs will have a proper vote on the customs union

A statement made by Andrea Leadsom, leader of the Commons, indicated today that MPs would have their say on the customs union and trade bills before the summer.

Key points from today’s business statement:

The @CommonsLeader announces Lords Amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 June — Labour Whips (@labourwhips) June 7, 2018

She also confirms the Governments intention to bring back the Customs and Trade Bills back before mid-July. — Labour Whips (@labourwhips) June 7, 2018

Update:

Tonight the Government have tabled a series of amendments inc one that removes the meaningful vote. It is vital Parliament has a meaningful vote inc in the event of no deal with the EU. Wasn’t Brexit about Parliament getting back control? — Labour Whips (@labourwhips) June 7, 2018

During Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Jeremy Corbyn confronted Theresa May over the lack of progress made in Brexit negotiations by the government, and questioned when a white paper outlining the government’s latest stance would be published.

The opposition leader compared the government’s lack of efficiency to that of the chaos surrounding Northern Rail in recent weeks. Speaking on Wednesday Corbyn said: “When it comes to Brexit this government has delivered more delays and more cancellations than Northern rail” to cheers from the commons. The Brexit white paper is long-awaited, and is said by the government to set out the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

At the G7… Trump and Macron’s bromance is at risk

World leaders will meet at the G7 in Canada this week, and ahead of their meeting French President Emmanuel Macron and US president Donald Trump reportedly had a testy phone call in which the French President called Trump’s newly imposed steel tariffs ‘illegal’ and a ‘mistake’.

When asked about the supposed difficult call, Macron later stated: if we explained to people how sausages were made, it’s unlikely they’d keep eating them”. Theresa May is also expected to challenge the US president over tariffs. On 1st June the president enforced a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the EU.

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