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Monday 14 May 2018 - 08:21

May urges public to trust her over Brexit amid cabinet bitter row

Story Code : 724583
British Prime Minister Theresa May (File photo)
British Prime Minister Theresa May (File photo)

“You can trust me to deliver,” she promised, writing for a national newspaper after her own Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed her proposal as “crazy.”

Under May’s preferred customs partnership, the UK would collect tariffs on behalf of the European Union, but Johnson said he would back an alternative plan, based on untested tracking technology.

The premier wrote in an article published in the Sunday Times that she would ensure the UK left the customs union without imposing a hard border in Ireland.

“I will ensure that we take back control of our borders. The public want their own government to decide on the number of people coming into Britain from across the European Union and that is what we are going to do," she wrote.

“I will ensure that we take back control of our money. We have agreed a settlement with the European Union and the days of vast contributions from taxpayers to the EU budget are coming to an end.”

May, however, warned that there will “be compromises,” but vowed that she “will not let you down.”
May is struggling to avert a cabinet rebellion amid fears from euroskeptic lawmakers of her party that she will keep the UK in the EU customs union after Brexit.

Earlier this month, senior British lawmakers delivered an ultimatum to May over one of the government’s post-Brexit customs options.
The MPs, who support Brexit, demanded May drop a proposal for a customs partnership with the EU once it leaves the bloc, arguing that the partnership would make meaningful trade deals “impossible.”
May has also been forced to allow MPs to have a vote on remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA) following multiple fresh defeats in the House of Lords.

On Tuesday, the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber which scrutinizes legislation, voted to try and force the UK to commit to retaining close relations with the EU single market after Brexit.
 
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