Prime Minister Theresa May wants to align Britain with EU rules for trade in goods after Brexit, reports said Thursday, setting up a showdown with eurosceptics on the eve of a crucial cabinet meeting intended to finally settle the issue.
The proposals were leaked as carmaker Jaguar Land Rover became the latest firm to warn that new trade barriers with Europe could imperil thousands of jobs and billions of pounds in investment. May will gather her warring ministers at her country retreat on Friday to finally agree on what they want from the future relationship with the EU, amid warnings time is running out to agree a deal with Brussels.
But eurosceptics in her Conservative party responded with outrage to leaked papers suggesting she wants to keep a "common rulebook for all goods including agri-food". "This is not Brexit," tweeted one MP, while another said it would leave Britain "out of Europe but still run by Europe".
Earlier, reports suggested that Brexit Secretary David Davis warned May her proposal for new customs arrangements was "unworkable" and would not be accepted by the EU. The European Union itself has also said again and again that Britain cannot "cherry-pick" bits of EU membership it likes.
There is less than nine months before Britain leaves the bloc, and just weeks before May's self-imposed deadline of October to reach a deal, but negotiations have all but stopped. Meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, May said her ministers would decide on Friday on "a substantial way forward which will enable the pace and intensity of the negotiations to increase".
European leaders have warned that she is running out of time, while businesses have also increased their warnings in recent weeks about the need to avoid new trade barriers. Airbus, BMW and Siemens have warned in recent weeks that they could pull investment, and Jaguar Land Rover added its voice on Thursday.
"We urgently need greater certainty to continue to invest heavily in the UK and safeguard our suppliers, customers and 40,000 British-based employees," chief executive Ralf Speth said. May has repeatedly promised to leave the EU's customs union and single market, which would free Britain to build its own trading regime and allow it to control migration from the bloc.
But the move risks severe disruption to business, as well as the return of border checks between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland - something she has pledged to avoid.