John Baron MP rejects Prime Minister’s offer to Corbyn

MP: a customs union is against the national interest

Yesterday, after a long meeting of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister announced that she would be seeking to meet the Labour leader to explore ways of breaking the Commons deadlock over Brexit, which will probably include discussions about membership of a customs union with the EU. She also said the Government would be pursuing a further extension of the UK’s Brexit date. Meanwhile, in the House of Commons today a group of remain-supporting backbenchers, led by Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin MP and Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, is trying to ram through a Bill in one day mandating the Government to seek a further extension of the UK’s Brexit deadline to avoid a no deal/WTO exit. John Baron MP will be voting against the Bill at every opportunity.

John said afterwards,

“The Prime Minister’s approach is wrong on many fronts. Extending our EU exit deadline once again prolongs uncertainty amongst businesses and the public alike, who were led to believe we would be leaving on 29th March. We should now be leaving the EU, with or without a deal, on 12th April. One delay is bad enough; a further delay is unacceptable.”

“Accepting Labour’s proposals for a customs union would go against both the Conservative and Labour manifestoes at the last general election, and would rob the country of one of Brexit’s key advantages – striking our own trade deals with the faster-growing economies outside the EU. Shorn of our EU Commissioner, British MEPs and our seat at the European Council, the UK would become a rule-taker, with Brussels running our trade policy and putting the EU’s interests first. This would be the worst of all worlds.”

“The Government and Prime Minister must think again, and embrace a no deal / WTO exit on 12th April. The Prime Minister informs us that we are fully prepared, and we should take scare stories with a pinch of salt – they were wrong before the referendum in 2016, and they are wrong now.”