Boris Johnson launches extraordinary attack on Theresa May’s 'crazy' customs partnership proposal
Open challenge to the prime minister’s authority suggests Foreign Secretary will resign unless she abandons her plan
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has attacked Theresa May’s plan for post-Brexit customs rules as “crazy”, blowing open the bitter split that threatens Cabinet walk-outs over the controversy.
The “customs partnership” idea - under which the UK would collect tariffs on behalf the EU - would prevent the country “taking back control” as voters were promised, the Foreign Secretary said.
The extraordinary open challenge to the prime minister’s authority suggests Mr Johnson will resign unless Ms May abandons the plan, in crucial talks over the next few weeks.
She has signalled she will press ahead, hoping to win the support of some softer Brexiteers in her inner Cabinet after asking Britain's top civil servants to craft amended proposals.
But Mr Johnson, speaking on a trip to Washington, said: “If you have the new customs partnership, you have a crazy system whereby you end up collecting the tariffs on behalf of the EU at the UK frontier.
“If the EU decides to impose punitive tariffs on something the UK wants to bring in cheaply, there’s nothing you can do.
“That’s not taking back control of your trade policy, it’s not taking back control of your laws, it’s not taking back control of your borders and it’s actually not taking back control of your money either, because tariffs would get paid centrally back to Brussels.”
Mr Johnson, speaking to the Daily Mail, added: “It’s totally untried and would make it very, very difficult to do free trade deals.”
It is the first time the Foreign Secretary has gone public with his criticism, putting out in the open a divide that saw the inner Cabinet split 6-5 against the customs partnership in a meeting last week.
The outburst reflects anger that the plan remains alive, despite being opposed by a majority of the sub-committee meant to settle the issue.
Mr Johnson’s interview comes ahead of the full Cabinet meeting this morning, although talks on customs arrangements after Brexit have been shelved until next week.
The government has been accused of “negotiating with itself”, because both the customs partnership and an alternative plan – based on advanced tracking technology – have already been rejected by Brussels.
The EU believes neither would prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland and has set a deadline of a summit at the end of next month for the UK to come up with a solution.
If it fails, the prime minister will be required to sign up to the “backstop” of keeping Northern Ireland in the EU customs union and the single market for goods.
Meanwhile, the government is braced for further defeats in the House of Lords today on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill – including one that would kill off the government plan to write the exact time and date of Brexit into law.
Most attention will centre on a cross-party bid to keep Britain in the European Economic Area (EEA) and therefore the single market.
To the fury of pro-EU Labour MPs, Jeremy Corbyn is whipping his peers to vote against the amendment – guaranteeing a significant Labour rebellion.
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