(Bloomberg) -- Brexit Secretary David Davis is fighting U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May over her Brexit plan on the eve of a crunch cabinet meeting, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Davis objects to her proposal on customs and also a plan to align rules on goods to facilitate trade with the bloc after Brexit, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the Brexit secretary’s private views.
The rebellion by the minister leading Britain’s divorce negotiations with the European Union came as May appeared to have settled on the type of Brexit she wants and a cabinet ally said she is ready to upset colleagues to push her plan through.
May has summoned her Cabinet to an all-day meeting at her country residence, Chequers, on Friday, with the goal of securing their agreement. She’s proposing the U.K. should leave the EU’s customs union, but collect tariffs at EU rates on goods crossing the border destined for the bloc.
Pro-Brexit ministers are angry that the plan was developed without consulting senior cabinet members who were supposed to be working on a customs solution. It has also received a chilly response from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
A draft of May’s proposal was leaked on Thursday, including a line saying it wouldn’t “allow the U.K. to accommodate a likely ask from the U.S. in a future trade deal.” That upset Brexiteers in the cabinet who have made an American trade deal one of their key aims.
May’s office hit back at the leak, with one official saying the line had been selectively quoted. The prime minister’s spokeswoman Alison Donnelly said May remains committed to seeking an agreement with America.
“It is categorically untrue to suggest that we will not be able to strike a trade deal with the U.S.,” she said.
