Prime Minister Theresa May is considering approving a deal with the opposition Labour Party which would keep the U.K. inside the EU’s tariff wall to secure a Brexit deal.
The potential deal, which could satisfy Labour’s demands for Britain to stay within the customs union, would limit the country’s ability to do trade deal on goods but allow it to make agreements on services, the Financial Times reported.
On Wednesday, May insisted to U.K. lawmakers that she wanted to maintain an “independent trade policy” after Brexit but her supporters said that this didn’t necessarily cover the entire British economy.
“You could come up with a solution where you have freedom to do trade deals in some areas but not others,” said person close to May told the Financial Times.
By accepting Labour’s key concession on the customs union, May hopes to secure a deal with leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn, to resurrect her rejected Brexit plan.
However, the potential agreement with Labour has split cabinet ministers, with several MPs skeptical that such a deal could be voted through in parliament.
As few as 90 Tory MPs could back a deal involving the customs union, a senior cabinet minister suggested and would result is a another round of government resignations, the Guardian reported.
The SNP, the Liberal Democrats are likely to oppose the deal, as well as dozens of Labour MPs who recently pledged only to back a deal if it included a confirmatory referendum.
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt aired concerns on Tuesday that a deal with a customs union would still not secure a majority. “Personally I think a customs union is a bad policy,” he said.
International trade secretary Liam Fox and Commons leader Andrea Leadsom are also opposed to a customs compromise, with Fox previously saying it would a “betrayal” if Britain didn’t have “a fully independent trade policy”.
However, on Wednesday Corbyn’s team said the prime minister seemed willing to move on Brexit. “We have seen clear evidence the government is prepared to explore shifts in its position,” a Labour spokesman said.
Elsewhere, the Conservatives are on track to take a battering in local elections with Tory strategists worrying they could lose up to 1,000 council seats, mainly to the Lib Dems and Labour.
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