RUTH Davidson has warned Theresa May she will not accept a No Deal Brexit, despite the Prime Minister’s repeated insistence that no deal is better than a bad deal.
The Scottish Tory leader, who was a prominent Remain campaigner, said she would refuse to back a hard Brexit that left the UK reliant on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
Insead, she told ITV’s Peston on Sunday she wanted the softest possible exit from the EU.
She said she accepted the UK would be leaving the EU single market and customs union, as Mrs May has said, but that should not mean a distant trading relationship with Europe.
She said: “What I want is to make sure that we’ve got a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU. That we’re able to, in the Prime Minister’s words, trade with and operate within, to the maximum possible extent the single market.
“I think that’s right for Scottish businesses, for UK businesses.
“But I also accept the idea that if we are going to leave the EU then as well as getting a trade deal with the EU we should be able to get trade deals with other countries too.”
Asked if it was possible the UK cabinet could decide on a policy she couldn’t support, Ms Davidson said: “Certainly. Falling out on WTO rules would not be something that I think would be in the benefit of my constituency in Edinburgh or in the country as it is.
“But I don’t think anybody’s working to a No Deal scenario. Nobody, whether they’re me or a Leaver like Boris [Johnson, the Foreign Secretary] wants to see lorries stacked up at at Dover. We want to make sure that facilitations are made for UK companies to succeed.”
A split between the cabinet and Scottish Tory leader could add to Mrs may's difficulties in parliament, or lead to a split in the Scottish Tory group.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell would be bound to support a No Deal Brexit if one was agreed, because of the principle of collective cabinet responsibility, or resign if he did not.
A No Deal Brexit would also test Ms Davidson's authority over her twelve other Scottish Tory MPs, some of whom might take a sharply different view from their leader.
If the UK were forced to fall back on WTO rules because it was unable to agree a softer deal, it would mean high import tariffs and more onerous customs checks.
Pressed if there was a UK policy short of No Deal that she couldn’t support because its disadvantages, Ms Davidson added: “We have to let negotiating team get on with their work. I want to see something that comes out in the best interests of my constituents here in Edinburgh and in Scotland, as well as across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator, said the forthcoming talks on trade relations and transition arrangements would depend heavily on UK decisions.
He said the outcome of the talks would depend on the UK’s red lines of exiting the single market, the customs union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel