Sources at Downing Street have said the UK is "categorically" leaving the customs union, ahead of talks between EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, the prime minister, David Davis, and Brexit minister Theresa May. It is the first time May, Davis and Barnier have met since the opening phase of negotiations over the UK's withdrawal from the bloc ended in December. Tensions had arisen among Conservatives over the possibility of a soft Brexit that involved membership of some sort of customs union, and also over the EU's insistence that its rules will still apply during the two-year transition period.
Sources at Downing Street have said the UK is "categorically" leaving the customs union, ahead of talks between EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, the prime minister, Theresa May, and Brexit minister David Davis. It is the first time May, Davis and Barnier have met since the opening phase of negotiations over the UK's withdrawal from the bloc ended in December. Tensions had arisen among Conservatives over the possibility of a soft Brexit that involved membership of some sort of customs union, and also over the EU's insistence that its rules will still apply during the two-year transition period.