Alex Sobel MP has slammed Theresa May’s Brexit negotiating strategy in a heated exchange in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister outlined her intent to extend the ‘backstop’ which would keep the UK in a temporary Customs Union with the EU until 2021.
Mr Sobel, who has been a passionate campaigner against a hard Brexit since he entered Parliament in 2017, urged the prime minster to listen to businesses, workers and consumers and put a permanent customs union solution on the table during the negotiations.
In a question made directly to the Prime Minister at an impassioned debate at the House of Commons, Mr Sobel said: “I did not realise until today that the Prime Minister is an Eagles fan. In her announcement, she said that the backstop could last as long as 2021. She has put her country into Hotel California: we can check out anytime we like, but we can never leave. When is she going to put workers, businesses and consumers first and, at the very least, look at a customs union between the United Kingdom and the EU?”
The Prime Minister responded: “We are putting the interests of people across the United Kingdom—workers, consumers and businesses—at the forefront of what we are doing. That is precisely why we have proposed a free trade area that includes frictionless trade.”
The Prime Minister’s response will astonish many experts who have been clear that a post Brexit FTA would not allow the seamless trade of goods and services that we enjoy now. It would also fail to solve the Northern Ireland Border issue that is causing the deadlock in the negotiations.