What does the UK want from the EU?
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 19 July 2018
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dominic Raab, the recently appointed Brexit Secretary has been in Brussels this week - his first visit since replacing David Davis, who resigned after the cabinet had apparently agreed on a document that represented a UK proposal for its future relationship with Brussels.
The Chequers document was the basis for the White Paper presented by the government last week, but the White Paper was undermined almost immediately by two days of dramatic interventions in parliament.
So is what was agreed at Chequers really the basis of the UK's negotiating position?
David Aaronovitch discusses this week's political and technical developments.
CONTRIBUTORS
Adrian Wooldridge, political editor of The Economist and author of the Bagehot column
Jill Rutter, former Treasury and Number 10 civil servant and now programme director at the Institute of Government
Patrick Smith, Europe editor of the Irish Times
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Aronovich. |
| 0:03.1 | The briefing room is the place where you and I get briefed together |
| 0:05.9 | on the tricky questions of the moment by folk who actually know what they're talking about. |
| 0:11.4 | Now, if it works for you or even if it doesn't, please communicate by writing a review |
| 0:15.8 | or rating us on iTunes or your podcast provider. |
| 0:19.4 | A shout out to those of you who have recently reviewed us, |
| 0:22.0 | including WPI Now, Park 106 and Let MK-401. And this week, we're asking what kind of |
| 0:33.1 | relationship is Britain seeking with the European Union after Brexit. |
| 0:41.6 | And if you enjoy this podcast, you might want to listen back to other editions of the briefing room. |
| 0:42.1 | Last week, for example, we asked if NATO could survive without the United States. |
| 0:59.0 | Less than two weeks ago, Theresa May locked her cabinet into her country retreat and didn't let them out until they'd all agreed a document containing Britain's proposal for its future relationship with the European Union. |
| 1:07.0 | We're delivering on the vote of the British people to take back control of our money, our laws and our borders, and that's what our proposal does. We're also ensuring that as we do |
| 1:15.7 | that, we protect people's lives, livelihoods and their jobs, and that we of course deliver on our |
| 1:21.7 | commitment to Northern Ireland, that there should be no hard border between Northern Ireland and |
| 1:25.5 | Ireland. Unity was swiftly followed by discordance. |
| 1:29.4 | The PM lost David Davis, followed by Boris Johnson, |
| 1:32.9 | and then barely survived a series of knife-edge votes in the Commons on motions related to the EU. |
| 1:39.2 | So what was actually in the Chekker's agreement? |
| 1:42.6 | What changed this week? |
| 1:46.3 | And what will the European Union make of it? To help me through this, I'm joined live in the briefing room by Adrian Woldridge, |
| 1:51.2 | the political editor of The Economist and author of the Badgett column. |
| 1:59.2 | Adrian Warnridge, we had the Chequers plan. |
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