Liam Fox today insisted Brexit will slash costs of clothes and food for families – after his former trade chief warned that leaving the EU is like swapping a banquet for a ‘packet of crisps’.
The International Trade Secretary dismissed calls for the UK to stay in a customs union with the EU – saying it would stop the UK lowering tariffs on day-to-day products.
He warned that giving up control over trade would leave Britain as ‘rule takers’ and ‘sell out’ the public’s verdict from the referendum.
The intervention came as Dr Fox made a major speech on the UK’s looming departure – the latest in a series of keynote addresses on Brexit by Cabinet ministers.
His scathing attack on staying in a customs union with the EU follows Jeremy Corbyn’s dramatic shift to back staying in one.
Meanwhile, the former top civil servant in Dr Fox’s department, Sir Martin Donnelly has ridiculed his former boss’ plans to quit the EU customs union and single market.
Liam Fox today delivered the latest in a series of Brexit speeches by Cabinet ministers
Liam Fox (pictured heading into Cabinet at No10 today ) will today blast Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to keep the UK in an EU customs union after Brexit as a ‘sell out of Britain’s national interests’.
Critics of Labour accused the party of betraying its Brexit-backing voters in the party heartlands by changing their policy.
Ex civil servant warns quitting the EU is like swapping a banquet for pack of crisps
Sir Martin Donnelly, the former top civil servant in the International Trade Department, will ridicule his former boss’ plans to quit the EU customs union and single market
The former top civil servant in Liam Fox’s department will warn quitting the EU is like swapping a three-course meal for a packet of crisps.
Sir Martin Donnelly will ridicule his former boss’ plans to quit the EU customs union and single market.
And he will warn that dire economic consequences could lie ahead for Britain.
His speech risks overshadowing the International Trade Secretary’s own address later today.
Sir Martin will say: ‘For the UK to give up existing access both to the EU single market, and to the preferential trade agreements which the EU has in place with over 50 countries, in exchange for its own bilateral trade deals at some future date, is rather like rejecting a three course meal now in favor of the promise of a packet of crisps later.’
He will warn the Government’s hopes of keeping a soft Irish border by creating technological customs checks is achievable.
And that Britain stands little chance of securing all the hoped-for free trade deals globally it wants.
He will say: ‘There is a marked lack of evidence that leaving the EU customs union and single market will lead to greater U.K. trade with third countries.’
And today, Dr Fox warned that if the UK stayed in customs union – which would stop the UK from being able to sign free trade deals around the world – it would harm the UK’s ability to boost its trade in the years to come.
He told an audience at Bloomberg’s headquarters in the City of London today: ‘As rule takers, without any say in how the rules were made, we would be in a worse position than we are today.
‘It would be a complete sell out of Britain’s national interests.’
And he warned that staying in a customs union would leave the UK having to take EU rules but without having a say in what they should be.
He said: ‘First of all, for goods, we would have to accept EU trade rules without any say in how they were made, handing Brussels considerable control of the UK’s external trade policy.’
‘Secondly, it would limit our ability to reach new trade agreements with the world’s fastest-growing economies.’
‘And thirdly, it would limit our ability to develop our trade and development policies that would offer new ways for the world’s poorest nations to trade their way out of poverty.’
‘As rule takers, without any say in how the rules were made, we would be in a worse position than we are today. It would be a complete sell out of Britain’s national interests.’
‘A customs union would remove the bulk of incentives for other countries to enter into comprehensive free trade agreements with the UK if we were unable to alter the rules in whole sectors of our economy, as Turkey has now discovered.’
Dr Fox, one of the Cabinet’s leading Brexiteers, will warn this would put other countries off from striking trade deals with Britain after Brexit.
He said: ‘The inevitable price of trying to negotiate with one arm tied behind our back is that we would become less attractive to potential trade partners and forfeit many of the opportunities that would otherwise be available to us.’
The Cabinet Minister will point out that the economies of China and other eastern countries are growing – creating new opportunities for trade.
Meanwhile the amount Britain sells to the rest of the EU has been declining over the past few years.
Dr Fox said: ‘We cannot allow the practices and patterns of the past to constrain the opportunities of the future.’
Dr Fox’s scathing attack on staying in a customs union with the EU comes just a day after the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn performed a dramatic shift in policy to back staying in an EU customs union
He added: ‘The pattern of our trade is changing – 57 per cent of Britain’s exports of goods and services are now to outside the EU compared with only 44 per cent in 2005.
William Hague warns Tory rebels not to be pawns in Labour game by voting against PM on customs union
The former Tory leader urged backbenchers not to rebel against the PM in case they topple her government and install Jeremy Corbyn at No10
William Hague today warned the Tory backbenchers not to be used as pawns by Labour by voting against the PM on an EU customs union.
Tory rebels, led by Anna Soubry, have tabled an amendment to try to keep the UK in a customs union.
And they could unite with Labour to vote for it and inflict a humiliating Commons defeat on the PM.
If they do then commentators have warned they could end up toppling the Government and installing Mr Corbyn in Number 10.
The former Tory leader said: ‘Their aim is to use Tory rebels as human torpedoes, gloriously sacrificed in an attack on the battleship May.’
He said some Tory rebels are so ardently pro EU they would ‘vote for their motion even if the devil himself was walking through the voting lobby by their side’.
But he urged them not to, saying: ‘So if I were an MP minded to rebel on a customs union, I would state my case of course.
‘But then I would draw back, rather than be used as a means of installing a ruinous socialism in the leadership of Britain.’
‘What is more, while our EU exports are still dominated by goods, our non-EU exports are evenly split between goods and services.’
‘Our approach should not be premised on simply identifying how much of our current relationship we want to keep, but what we need to prosper in a rapidly changing global environment.’
He will say Britain needs to radically change its trading policy to take advantage o the new opportunities globally.
Dr Fox said: ‘There is a tendency among some nations to cling to the known trading mechanisms more suited to the structures of the past than the digital age of the future.’
‘Flexibility and agility, then, are the key to any future trade policy.
‘The ability to react quickly to new developments, to explore new opportunities and to nurture fledgling industries that will be the key to growth and prosperity in the coming years.’
He added: ‘To do this, we need the ability to exercise a fully independent trade policy.
‘We have to maximise overall trading opportunities for the UK and secure the prosperity of our people.’
Dr Fox’s speech is the penultimate address by Cabinet minsters in the ‘roadmap to Brexit’ series – with Theresa May set to finish it off with her address on Friday.
And as ministers are trying to flesh out their hopes and plans for Britain’s looming departure, the UK’s Brexit plans stand at a crossroads.
Tory rebels led by Anna Soubry, have tabled an amendment to try to keep the UK in a customs union – and could unite with Labour to vote for it and inflict a humiliating Commons defeat on the PM.
If they do then commentators have warned they could end up toppling the Government and installing Mr Corbyn in Number 10.
William Hague today warned the Tory backbenchers not to be used as pawns by the Labour leadership.
Jeremy Corbyn, pictured having a selfie after yesterday’s Brexit speech in Coventry, was accused by critics of betraying voters in his party’s heartlands by announcing his change in policy
The former Tory leader wrote in The Telegraph: ‘Their aim is to use Tory rebels as human torpedoes, gloriously sacrificed in an attack on the battleship May.’
He said some Tory rebels are so ardently pro EU they would ‘vote for their motion even if the devil himself was walking through the voting lobby by their side’.
But he urged them not to, saying: ‘So if I were an MP minded to rebel on a customs union, I would state my case of course.
‘But then I would draw back, rather than be used as a means of installing a ruinous socialism in the leadership of Britain.’