Could Theresa May really survive a customs union climbdown?

The Sunday Times set the cat among the pigeons over the weekend with a report claiming that Theresa May ‘may surrender over customs union’ after a secret wargaming exercise concluded that Brexiteers including Michael Gove and David Davis would not resign if the UK stayed in a customs union with the EU. The paper quoted a No. 10 source as saying Downing Street ‘will not be crying into our beer’ if parliament forces the government’s hand.

Unsurprisingly the report has managed to get Brexiteers into a spin. Staying in the customs union is seen as poison to a large chunk of Brexit-backing MPs as it means the UK would have great difficulty signing trade deals with other countries. Just last month, the Australian high commissioner said such an arrangement would make the UK ‘irrelevant’. While Tory backbenchers were quick to go on the offensive so too did several Cabinet ministers. Sajid Javid took to social media to explain why the UK must leave the customs union – and he was backed up by one Michael Gove.