International Trade Secretary and passionate Brexiter, Liam Fox, is not happy with the House Of Lords. Last night, the government suffered another three Brexit defeats in the House of Lords, bringing the total up to nine.
Key among the defeats was one amendment which would allow MPs to return to the negotiating table if Theresa May's deal was rejected. According to the Guardian, this amendment is seen as a means to prevent a no-deal outcome.
The vote was carried by a majority of 91, following which Liam Fox appealed to Labour MPs from leave-constituencies to reject the amendment in the House of Commons.
Branding the House of Lords as "unelected," he accused its members of trying to "thwart the view of the British electorate."
Liam Fox - It's not acceptable for an unelected house to try & block the democratic will of the British people... so we will be leaving the EU... we'll be leaving the single market & we'll be leaving the customs union.#StopBrexit #FBPE pic.twitter.com/nobC8DXGzp
— Haggis_UK - #FBPE 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) May 1, 2018
The string of House of Lords defeats is now towering over this week's critical meeting of the Brexit cabinet sub-committee.
Ministers are split on customs union
This week's talks are likely to focus on whether the UK ought to remain in the customs union. Boris Johnson and Liam Fox want Theresa May to steer clear off her preferred option of a customs partnership.
In such an arrangement, the UK would have to collect import tariffs on behalf of the EU.
Although this is the prime minister's preferred option, many see it as remaining in the customs union in all but name. Some have pointed out that remaining in the customs union or a customs partnership would also go a long way toward resolving the Irish border issue.
But Liam Fox considers anything resembling a customs union as a "complete sellout."
Speaking to John Humphrys on BBC 4 Radio, Fox admitted that the hung parliament had made it difficult to agree on Brexit legislation. When asked, would he resign if a customs partnership deal was agreed upon, Fox refused to reject the possibility.
DUP threatens to leave the government if Northern Ireland is kept in the customs union
Earlier this week, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier travelled to Ireland and Northern Ireland to speak to politicians and meet with members of the public. The Irish border issue remains unresolved. Barnier's visit was intended to quell fears and gain a better understanding of the border region.
On Monday, politicians from both sides of the border met at the all-island civic dialogue on Brexit with Barnier in attendance. Politicians from the Republic and Northern Ireland representing different political parties shared their views on Brexit.
Northern Ireland's largest party, the DUP, was noted by its absence.
Just hours before Barnier's arrival in Dundalk, DUP party leader Arlene Foster said that he (Barnier) was "not an honest broker."
The DUP has been highly critical of the EU, its chief Brexit negotiator, and the Irish government, accusing them of bullying the UK into keeping Northern Ireland in the customs union. According to Politics Home, Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, said that he would be willing to scrap his party's confidence-and-supply agreement with the Tories if Northern Ireland was coerced into staying in the customs union and parts of the single market.
