It’s crunch week for Theresa May. The Prime Minister is under pressure to finally decide what the government’s negotiating position ought to be going into the second round of EU negotiations. In order to work out what the UK’s trade relationship with the EU should be after Brexit, May will meet with her Brexit war Cabinet on Wednesday and Thursday to try and agree a position on post-Brexit trade. There’s hope that this will bring an end to the drift which has led Brussels figures like Angela Merkel to joke about May’s ‘make me an offer‘ approach to the talks.
The crux of the issue relates to whether the UK will be in a customs arrangement of some kind with the EU. No 10 – and Theresa May personally – has ruled out staying in the customs union but there are some who think that ‘a customs union’ could still be arranged – and others who think the seemingly more diluted options of ‘a customs arrangement’ could work as a compromise.
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