Brexit talks - as it happened: Michel Barnier tells UK 'time has come to make a choice' on customs union
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has held meetings with the EU’s chief negotiator in London after Downing Street confirmed Britain will “categorically” leave the customs union after Brexit.
After speaking with the Prime Minister over a working lunch, Michel Barnier then held a brief press conference with the Brexit Secretary David Davis.
He warned Ms May that trade barriers are “unavoidable” if she carries out her plan to leave the customs union, adding that “the time has come to make a choice”.
Mr Barnier also appeared to rebuff Mrs May’s apparent attempt to deny full settlement rights to EU citizens who arrive in the UK after Brexit day – but before the end of a transition period.
It comes as the Prime Minister prepares to meet her 11-member Brexit war-cabinet later this week to thrash out the Government’s vision for the so-called “end state”.
Reassuring Conservative Brexiteers on Sunday evening a Downing Street source insisted the UK would “categorically [be] leaving the customs union” after reports that Ms May had softened her stance.
See below for live updates
Brexit is likely to dominate the agenda today and for the rest of the week, with meetings of Theresa May's Brexit 'war Cabinet' later this week.
Michel Barnier visits Westminster this morning where he will have lunch with Brexit Secretary David Davis at Number 10. The pair are due to give statements afterwards.
Over in the Commons, newly-appointed Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey will answer questions from MPs from 2.30pm.
Here's a look at the order paper:
More than 100 elected officials from five political parties have issued a stark warning about the impact of Brexit on the NHS, saying leaving the EU is “the biggest threat of all” to the health service.
In a letter seen by The Independent, MPs, MEPs, peers and assembly members from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru said a hard Brexit would create challenges for the NHS "for decades to come” and could lead to further privatisation.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw writes a column for us, setting out the "deep damage" already being done.
Read his piece here:
On the eve of the centenary of women winning the right to vote, Labour former deputy leader Harriet Harman writes for The Independent on the battles that still need to be won.
See here:
MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit committee in Parliament, told Radio 4's Today programme this morning that he thinks it is a "profound mistake" to leave the customs union with the EU after exiting the bloc. He said that nobody is convinced it is possible without placing some sort of checks on goods in Northern Ireland - a claim rejected by the Government last year.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "This continued confusion is causing damaging uncertainty among the major manufacturers that I am meeting...investment decisions vital for our future are being delayed, threatening jobs."
And Conservative MP Anna Soubry has posted this on Twitter:
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