Chaos in the Commons as new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab unveils long-awaited white paper
There were humiliating scenes in the House of Commons on Thursday as the new Brexit Secretary tried to unveil the Government's long awaited and divisive white paper.
Dominic Raab was heckled by MPs demanding to know why they hadn't seen the final Brexit blueprint before his statement.
Mr Raab said the paper would be made available "as soon as is practicably possible," to more shouts from MPs.
Copies of the paper were brought into the chamber in boxes and former Labour minister Ben Bradshaw could then be seen throwing copies of the document to MPs on his own bench.
Speaker John Bercow suspended the sitting for five minutes to allow MPs to get copies time to read it, before Mr Raab was able to resume his speech.
The Ukraine model for Brexit
The UK could enter into a Ukraine-style Association Agreement with the European Union after Brexit, under Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals.
The plan envisages the creation of a new governing body of ministers from both sides – meeting twice a year, including one summit of the British PM with leaders of the remaining 27 member states and heads of EU institutions – to oversee the agreement and discuss proposals for change.
A joint committee would underpin technical and administrative functions, with a “robust” independent arbitration panel to decide on disputes, ensuring that rulings on differences between the UK and EU are not made by the courts of either side.
Crucially, the panel would be able to seek guidance from the European Court of Justice, but only on the interpretation of EU law.
Key details of the white paper include:
A new free trade area in goods, based on a “common rulebook” of regulations necessary for frictionless movements across borders, which will require the UK to commit by treaty to ongoing harmonisation with EU rules;
Continued UK participation in and financial contributions to European agencies covering areas like chemicals, aviation safety and medicines;
A facilitated customs arrangement, removing the need for checks and controls between Britain and the EU and allowing differing UK and EU tariffs on goods from elsewhere in the world to be paid at the border, removing the need for rebates in the vast majority of cases;
New arrangements for services, giving the UK freedom to set its own rules and recognising that the UK and EU “will not have current levels of access to each other’s markets”;
A new system for financial services, which will not replicate the EU’s passporting regime;
Continued co-operation on energy and transport, a “common rulebook” on state aid and commitments to maintain high standards of environmental and workplace protections;
“Mobility” rules which will end automatic freedom of movement, but allow UK and EU citizens to travel without visas for tourism and temporary work and enable businesses to move staff between countries;
A security deal allowing continued UK participation in Europol and Eurojust, “co-ordination” of UK and EU policies on foreign affairs, defence and development, and wider co-operation in areas like cyber-warfare and counter-terrorism;
Co-operation on the protection of personal data, continued use of the EHIC health insurance card and accords on shared programmes in science, culture, education and space;
Annual negotiations on access to fishing waters and the sharing of fish stocks.
How will it be negotiated with the EU?
The 98-page white paper, agreed at a Cabinet summit at Chequers last week which led Boris Johnson and David Davis to quit the Government, outlines UK proposals for what Mrs May describes in a foreword as “a principled and practical Brexit that is in our national interest and the UK’s and the EU’s mutual interest”.
The paper states: “While what the Government is proposing is ambitious in its breadth and depth, it is also workable and delivers on the referendum result, fully representing the sovereignty of the UK just as it respects the autonomy of the EU.”
It says that the Future Framework agreement must be concluded together with the separate agreement on the UK’s withdrawal, and called for both sides to focus on putting it into effect “as soon as possible”.
UK negotiators will be told to engage with EU counterparts “at pace” with the aim of reaching substantive agreement on the Future Framework later this year.
But details of the plan are likely to cause contention, including proposals for the financial sector which firmly reject the EU’s “equivalence” system under which countries can win access for their companies by showing their rules meet European standards.
The UK instead proposes a new economic and regulatory arrangement in financial services based on the principle of “autonomy for each party over decisions regarding access to its market” and underpinned by treaty commitments.
The arrangement should respect the regulatory autonomy of each side, while ensuring that decisions are “implemented in line with agreed processes” with consultation and collaboration between the two sides, the white paper says.