Britain will leave EU 'not just in name,' Brexit minister warns

Britain's Brexit minister is expected to give the country's strongest rebuttal of the European Union amid tensions over ongoing negotiations.

Brexit Minister Dominic Raab is pictured at 10 Downing Street, London on September 24, 2018.

Brexit Minister Dominic Raab is pictured at 10 Downing Street, London on September 24, 2018. Source: AAP

Britain will leave the European Union "in fact, not just in name", Brexit minister Dominic Raab will say, warning that London's "willingness to compromise is not without limits" and leaving without a deal is very much an option.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government has adopted a new strident tone in its dealings with the EU, angered after what some saw as an ambush in Austria last month when several of the bloc's leaders criticised some of her Brexit proposals.

But ministers are also keen to use the governing Conservative Party's annual conference in the central English city of Birmingham to try to win over Brexit supporters who fear May is leading Britain towards leaving the EU in name only.

He will say the government will fight any attempt to try to keep Britain too closely in the EU's sphere or to try to split the United Kingdom by forcing the British province of Northern Ireland to adopt a different set of customs rules.

Just six months before Britain is due to leave the EU in the country's biggest shift in foreign and trade policy in more than 40 years, the debate over how to leave the bloc is still raging in the centre-right Conservative Party, and even in government.

With no agreement on the divorce and continued wrangling over Britain's future relationship with the EU, the probability of a so-called "no-deal Brexit" has risen - something that Raab and other ministers said should not be feared.
The main opposition Labour Party accused Raab of being "in denial" over May's Chequers plan, named after her country residence where an agreement was hashed out with her ministers in July.

But Raab said he was pursuing a deal that "delivers on the referendum, because "that's our democratic duty".

"If we can't obtain a deal that secures that objective, then we will be left with no choice but to leave without a deal," he said.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters, SBS


Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world