UK government backs Theresa May’s Brexit Chequers proposal amidst summit rejection

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UK government backs Theresa May’s Brexit Chequers proposal amidst summit rejection Posted On 21 September 2018

Despite Theresa May having her Brexit proposal rejected at a summit in Salzburg, the UK government still insists her deal is a ‘workable’ and ‘credible’ one

“Tough words” were to be expected at the end of the Brexit negotiations at the summit but the government, says Minister James Brokenshire, has been ‘resolute’ in its effort to get a deal.

He went on to say that the government believed that the Chequers deal did respond to the EU’s concerns, and that there was a desire to get a deal on both sides.

The Chequers plan, Brokenshire claimed, “does deliver”, and he has urged the EU to “be specific” regarding its concerns.

Prime Minister Theresa May said that her plan for the UK and EU to share a “common rulebook” for goods, but not services, is the only credible way to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The plan is opposed, however, by some within her own party who argue it would compromise the UK’s sovereignty.

In a press conference, European Council President, Donald Tusk, said that while there were some “positive elements” in the Chequers plan, EU leaders had agreed upon the proposals that needed to be redrawn: “The suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work, not least because it is undermining the single market.”

The UK government and the EU are both trying to agree on a deal in time and want to avoid a ‘hard border’ – such as physical infrastructure like cameras or guard posts – between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but have yet been able to agree on how.

The UK is due to leave the EU on 29th March 2019.