Boris Johnson slams PM's 'crazy' post-Brexit customs plans
Boris Johnson has branded the government’s plans for a post-Brexit ‘customs partnership’ arrangement as "crazy".
The potential agreement, thought to be the preferred option of Prime Minister Theresa May, would see the UK collecting import tariffs on behalf of the EU and would limit the UK's ability to conduct trade deals, the foreign secretary said to The Daily Mail.
"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," said Johnson.
The foreign secretary’s comments were made during his trip to Washington over the weekend, when he stated that the US would not consent to a trade deal with the UK if it remained "in the lunar pull of Brussels".
Along with May, chancellor Philip Hammond, Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley and business secretary Greg Clark are understood to favour the customs partnership model, but it has proved deeply unpopular with some sections of the Conservative Party, and indeed the cabinet.
Clark defended the concept on Sunday, arguing that it would protect the car industry from customs checks and ensure frictionless trade which was "something that we’ve made a public commitment to and we need to make sure that we get that right."
Despite exposing rifts in the cabinet, Johnson's public criticism of the Prime Minister's plans for post-Brexit trade have been welcomed by so-called 'hard Brexiters' and 'remainers' alike.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who backs a hard exit from the EU and had already described the customs partnership as "completely cretinous", said Johnson had "hit the nail on the head".
Pro-European Labour MP Chuka Ummuna agreed with Johnson's assertion that a customs partnership would prove unworkable but did not share his view that the UK would be better off negotiating trade deals independently of the EU.
"Why are we wasting time talking about something that is impossible? There is a solution staring us in the face. The EU have offered the UK a bespoke arrangement, which is for us to continue to participate in the European Economic Area and the customs union, and we are prevaricating and wasting all this time when we could take advantage of those things," said Ummuna.