A customs partnership with the EU is still on the table, according to the UK business secretary Greg Clark, although some Conservative Brexiteers are fiercely opposed to it, the BBC reports.
All EU members are part of the customs union, within which there are no internal tariffs (taxes) on goods transported between them. There is also a common tariff agreed on goods entering from outside.
Greg Clark warned about the effect of border checks on manufacturing jobs, and said that the replacement for the customs union was of “huge importance”, and that whichever option was chosen would “take some time” to put in place.
Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg, on the other hand, said that if the partnership model was adopted, the UK “would not in effect be leaving the EU”.
Pro-remain Tories criticised pro-Brexit “ideologues”, saying they didn’t represent the party at large.
Photo: dreamstime.com