Brexit today - as it happened: Liam Fox speech labels Labour's customs union promise 'a complete sell-out' of British national interest

Liam Fox says staying in a customs union would betray Brexit voters

Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, has claimed remaining in a customs union after Brexit would be a “complete sell-out” of Britain’s national interest.

Dr Fox’s warning at a speech in central London came a day after Jeremy Corbyn unveiled a shift in his party’s policy, confirming Labour will back a “new and comprehensive” UK-EU customs union to ensure tariff-free trade after Brexit.

Outlining his vision for future trade after Brexit, the Cabinet minister said there were real opportunities for Britain to show leadership on the global stage but only if struck on its own rather than “ceding control” to Brussels.

But Dr Fox’s speech was immediately overshadowed on Tuesday as his call for leaving the customs union – in favour of striking free trade deals – was described by a former top civil servant in his department as like “giving up a three-course meal for the promise of a packet of crisps”.

Sir Martin Donnelly, who left his role as permanent secretary at the Department of International Trade last year, said 60 per cent of UK trade is either with the EU or the countries it has trade agreements with, and that any divergence from Brussels rules would deal a blow to British services which would not be compensated for through deals with nations like the US.

When asked about Sir Martin’s comments, Dr Fox hit back, declaring: “Brexit is more complicated than a packet of Walkers”.

Key Points

• Liam Fox says being in an EU customs union would be a 'complete sell-out of Britain's national interest' 
• Momentum founder Jon Lansman will run for top Labour job as rival groups vie for power
• Brexit like giving up 'three-course meal now in favour of a packet of crisps later', says former top trade official
• Boris Johnson attacked for comparing Northern Ireland border to that between Camden and Westminster
• Customs union: What is it, what would leaving it mean and what post-Brexit alternatives are there?

[27 February 2018 09:59 · Lizzy Buchan]

There has been some speculation on Twitter about Boris Johnson's comments on a border between Camden and Westminster.

[27 February 2018 10:03 · Lizzy Buchan]

Boris Johnson has been attacked for comparing the complex challenges posed by Brexit to Northern Ireland’s border, to those faced when managing the boundary between two London boroughs.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK would handle the border with the Republic of Ireland using technology, explaining how as London Mayor he electronically levied the congestion charge on vehicles crossing the boundary between Camden and Westminster.

Story here:

[27 February 2018 10:25 · Lizzy Buchan]

US cable giant Comcast has made a takeover bid for Sky to rival that of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.

The owners of NBC tabled an offer valuing Sky shares at £12.50, giving the company a total value of £22.1bn - a 16 per cent increase on the existing offer from Fox. Sky shares surged almost 20 per cent after the announcement.

Story:

[27 February 2018 10:37 · Ashley Cowburn]

[27 February 2018 10:54 · Ashley Cowburn]

This is from the Press Association: 

Boris Johnson has dismissed concerns that leaving the EU customs union after Brexit could lead to a hard Irish border by suggesting that crossings of the frontier could be monitored by technology like travel between London boroughs.

The Foreign Secretary said "there's no border between Camden and Westminster" as he suggested that goods crossing between the Republic and Northern Ireland could be subject to electronic checks, in an apparent reference to the congestion charge.

But his suggestion was dismissed as "willful recklessness" and "unbelievable" by Labour MPs.

Mr Johnson also said that the CBI business lobby group and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were "wrong" to back a customs union with Brussels, as it would leave Britain a "colony" of the EU in a situation that would be the "worst of all worlds".

Mr Corbyn's initiative has set the scene for possible defeat for Theresa May at the hands of Tory rebels and Labour in an upcoming Commons vote on the Trade Bill.

But Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You can't suck and blow at once, as they say, we're going to have to come out of the customs union in order to be able to do free trade deals."

And with the EU set to publish a legal document containing commitments to avoid a hard Irish frontier on Wednesday, Mr Johnson dismissed the suggestion that leaving the tariff-free customs union would see the erection of border posts on the island.

[27 February 2018 10:57 · Ashley Cowburn]

[27 February 2018 11:17 · Ashley Cowburn]

[27 February 2018 11:22 · Ashley Cowburn]

[27 February 2018 11:31 · Ashley Cowburn]

In Ireland, Boris Johnson's comparison about the Irish border and London boroughs was branded "silly" and "ignorant".

Sinn Fein's Brexit spokesman, David Cullinane, said: "It is not surprising that Boris Johnson would make those kind of silly comparisons because he and the hard Brexiteers simply do not want to face up to the reality that any type of Brexit or any type of exit from the customs union and the single market for Britain and the North will mean a hardening of the border."

[27 February 2018 11:35 · Ashley Cowburn]