Theresa May offering new trade proposal to break Brexit deadlock

Theresa May is set to offer the EU a significant concession regarding the UK’s future relationship with the bloc in an attempt to unlock a Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister would be willing to limit Britain’s ability to strike free-trade deals after Brexit with other countries and remain tied to European customs rules on goods after the transition period ends in December 2020.

It will also accept the demand that goods entering Northern Ireland comply with European standards to avoid a hard border with the Republic and finally reach a deal with the EU on the issue. In return, the government wants the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, to be allowed to remain within the EU’s customs bloc.

May said she will set forward new proposals "because the plan the European Union put forward is not acceptable to us," May told BBC radio.

"Because the plan the European Union has put forward is one that effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the customs union and ensures that effectively there is a customs border down the Irish sea."

Nevertheless, this proposal could anger Brexiters, who are fighting for a clean break from the EU to be able to sign trade deals with other countries and freely without following the block’s rules.

May’s new proposal would have the UK aligned with the EU until a mutually acceptable technological solution to the Irish border problem is found.

EU diplomats recently rejected May’s conference pitch that Brussels should be the first to move to break the deadlock in negotiations.

The European Commission president said that it was a pity that the British public were only “finding out now” about the scale of the problems caused by Brexit.

According to the Guardian, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is drafting a non-binding political declaration on the future relationship with the UK. He is also adding improved proposals on the Irish backstop.

Barnier also gave Raab a detailed briefing of the EU’s objections to the centrepiece of the Chequers’ economic plan, allowing free movement of goods between the EU and UK: “The UK proposal would lead to a diversion of trade and investment in the UK’s favour and to the disadvantage of member states’ business,” stated the unpublished document according to The Guardian.

MIGRATION POLICY POST-BREXIT

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister also promised the UK would have control of its immigration policy for the first time in decades after Brexit.

The prime minister said low-skilled immigration will fall under a new visa system where it is "workers' skills that matter, not where they come from". This means that EU citizens will no longer be given priority to live and work in Britain.

May said: "The new skills-based system will make sure low-skilled immigration is brought down and set the UK on the path to reduce immigration to sustainable levels, as we promised. At the same time we are training up British people for the skilled jobs of the future."

The government put out proposals overnight, following a report from the Migration Advisory Committee that recommended high-skilled workers are given priority over visa applications from low-skilled workers, based on an immigration policy that had a level playing field for EU nationals and applicants from other countries.

A white paper detailing how the new system will work will be published this autumn, ahead of an Immigration Bill next year, the press release said, with different airport queues for short-stay business trips and tourists and for those who want to live and work for longer in the UK.

"All security and criminal records checks would be carried out in advance of visits, cutting down red tape for travellers. These in-country security checks would be a similar system of prior authorisation to that operating in the United States.

"For those wanting to live and work in the UK longer term, there will be a new immigration system for applicants with the skills that help meet Britain’s needs. Applicants will need to meet a minimum salary threshold to ensure they are not competing for jobs that could otherwise be recruited in the UK. Successful applicants for high skilled work would be able to bring their immediate family but only if sponsored by their future employers.

The proposal said future trade agreements will include agreements on what services are delivered and numbers of students on exchange programmes.