Theresa May claims ‘no deal’ Brexit would be better than Canada-style agreement backed by both Brexiteers and Brussels
The PM said the idea was even worse than the chaos of crashing out with nothing in place with the EU because it would threaten to break up the UK
THERESA May today declared that a "no deal” Brexit could be better than a Canada-style agreement backed by both Brexiteers and Brussels.
The Prime Minister said the idea was even worse than the chaos of crashing out with nothing in place because it would threaten to break up the UK.
The comments will be seen as a slap down of the leading Tory backbenchers who support the alternative proposals, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Mrs May was speaking to reporters as she flew to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, a day after former Brexit Secretary David Davis had helped launch the rival to her Chequers compromise.
She insisted her blueprint was still the only credible plan on the table - and stepped up her attack on the looser, free-trade focused “Plan A+”.
Authored by right-wing think tank the IEA yesterday, the PM said it failed to find a definitive solution to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
And she said a similar plan put forward by Brussels for an arrangement similar to the one it struck with Canada would effectively put a customs and regulatory border in the Irish Sea.
It would mean cutting off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK because it would have to align with EU rules in Ireland.
Asked if a no deal Brexit is better than a 'Canada Plus' arrangement, Mrs May said: "I've always said no deal is better than a bad deal, and I think a bad deal, for example, would be something that broke up the United Kingdom.
"What we've put on the table is a good deal.
“It's a deal which retains the union of the UK, our constitutional integrity, it's a deal which provides for no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, protects jobs and enables us to have good trade relationship with Europe and the rest of the world."
‘Plan A+’ – The rival blueprint to Theresa May’s Chequers proposals
Here are the key points of the document published by the IEA think tank yesterday:
- The UK should immediately seek a "basic" free trade agreement for goods with the EU
- It should open simultaneous discussions on securing new long-term free trade deals with America, China and India
- To prevent a "hard border" in Northern Ireland have "cooperation mechanisms" to enable trade "formalities" to be completed away from the border
- Keep parts of the withdrawal agreement which have already been agreed, such as citizens' rights, the "divorce" bill and the 21-month transition period after the UK leaves in March 2019
- And on immigration, free movement should be replaced with an "efficient and balanced framework" for workers from the EU and the rest of the world which "recognises the economic and social benefits and costs of immigration"
The PM added: "When we get to the point of a deal -and as Prime Minister I do believe we can get to a good deal - we will take that deal back to Parliament and at that point MPs will have a clear choice.
"They will have a choice as to whether support that deal."
The PM also angrily lashed out at Labour for taking the side of the EU, saying: "They will accept any deal the EU gives regardless of how bad it is for the UK - that is not in the national interest."