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A cabinet minister has warned he would not support a closer Swiss-style relationship with the European Union following reports the government is considering the idea. <\/p>\n
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, instead suggested ministers should focus on maximising what he said were the opportunities of Brexit. <\/p>\n
But Mr Braclay, who campaigned for Brexit. was forced to concede there have been \u201cdifficulties\u201d with trade since the UK left the EU. <\/p>\n
The idea of a Swiss-style deal with the EU prompted fury among Tory Brexiteers.<\/p>\n
Lord Frost, the former chief Brexit negotiator, said that if the reports were correct he hoped \u201cthe government thinks better of these plans, fast\u201d. Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, said: \u201cWe settled the question of leaving the European Union, definitively, in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith also hit out at the Swiss model. \u201cI don\u2019t think that would be a particularly wise path at this time,\u201d she told Times Radio. She said she believed that \u201cconservatives over recent years, (have) delivered the results of the referendum. We got Brexit done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about reports that plans for more frictionless trade with Europe require moving to a Swiss model over the next decade, Mr Barclay said: \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t support that. I want to maximise the opportunities that Brexit offers.\u201d <\/p>\n
He told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News: “We’ve got a prime minister who himself supported Brexit. I myself did and was Brexit secretary, and worked very hard to maximise our control of our laws, our borders and our money.<\/p>\n
“So, it’s absolutely important, particularly in those high-growth sectors, such as financial services, life sciences and the green industries, that we really use the Brexit freedoms we have.\u201d He added that he did not \u201crecognise\u201d the reports.<\/p>\n
Issues around trade had to be looked at in the round, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are areas where there have been difficulties in terms of greater friction and we\u2019re looking to work constructively with EU partners on that. But, equally, there are very significant opportunities as a result of Brexit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we would have done the vaccine rollout in the way that we did had we remained a member of the EU and the significant regulatory opportunities we have, and the autumn statement signalled our determination to take those,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News that Labour would not seek to adopt Swiss-style arrangements nor rejoin the EU single market. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe\u2019re not proposing returning to the single market or the customs union, or anything like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we do want to negotiate a bespoke deal for the United Kingdom, so that our businesses can export, so that we can get those agreements on agriculture, so we can work together on security issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downing Street sources pointed to Mr Barclay\u2019s comment that he did not recognise the reports ministers wanted to put the UK on a path towards a Swiss-style deal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight A cabinet minister has warned he would not support a closer Swiss-style relationship with the European Union following reports the government is considering the idea. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n