Brexit round-up – 21/06/19

Corbyn urged not to go “full Remain”

More than 25 Labour MPs have written to Jeremy Corbyn to urge him not to go “full Remain” as the party reviews its stance on another Brexit referendum. They warn another referendum would be “toxic” and empower the “populist right” in many Labour heartlands. Mr Corbyn told colleagues on Wednesday afternoon it was “right to demand any deal is put to a public vote.” Several MPs wrote a letter to Mr Corbyn which reflected the ongoing tensions within the party on the issue. The letter points to the “devastating” losses the party suffered in the North East and the Midlands in last month’s council elections and warns of serious electoral consequences for the party if the UK does not leave the EU “without further undue delay.”

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Tory rivals clash over Brexit deadline

During Tuesday’s hour-long debate, Boris Johnson described the Brexit deadline as “eminently feasible” whereas Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt both said extra time might be needed. Boris Johnson also said that the British people were “fed up” with the current deadlock over Brexit and the Tories would pay a “really serious price” if this continued. Mr Gove said an “arbitrary” deadline was counter-productive and if he was prime minister he would be prepared to delay Brexit by a matter of days to finalise a deal, and Mr Hunt said he would back a no-deal exit as a “last-resort” but if the UK was close to finalising a deal with the EU he would extend the talks to prevent the disruption a no-deal exit would cause to business.

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Businesses are not ready for no-deal Brexit

The Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said that around 150,000 businesses do not have the paperwork they need to keep exporting to the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit and that contingency stocks they have built up would only last weeks. He noted that in the event of a no-deal Brexit the return of trade tariffs on goods shipped to the UK would be automatic and said “we should be clear that not having an agreement with the European Union would mean that there are tariffs, automatically, because the Europeans have to apply the same rules to us as they apply to everyone else.”

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David Miliband: Labour must become unequivocal party of Remain

David Miliband has said that Labour’s current strategy on Brexit is failing badly – it achieved just 14% of the vote in the European Parliament last month. Miliband added that Theresa May’s Tory Government is “dysfunctional and useless” and so Labour’s failure was all the more stark. Miliband goes on to say that the “Brexit that people are now being offered is so different to the Brexit that was promised at the time of the referendum that it would be undemocratic not to have a confirmatory ballot.”

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Irish border: UK expert panel to advise on post-Brexit arrangements

The UK Government has appointed a panel of experts to advise on alternative arrangements for the Irish border after Brexit. Alternative arrangements refers to ways of maintaining a soft border without close regulatory alignment between the UK and the EU. The UK Government group will be chaired by Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman. Mr Barclay said that “this work must be an absolute priority as we shape the future of the partnership.” The British Government and the EU have agreed there should be no hardening of the Irish border after Brexit.

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If you have any questions about any of the issues which are raised, or would like to discuss your own organisation’s options in the lead-up to Brexit, please do not hesitate to get in touch.