The government has accepted all four of the European Research Group’s amendments to the Customs Bill, potentially averting parliamentary defeat later tonight. But has Theresa May given up her Brexit policy as a result?
Not really. The amendments commit the government to several things: no further barriers between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, for the United Kingdom to be bound from collecting excise receipts on the behalf of the European Union unless the arrangement is reciprocated by the European Union, and for the United Kingdom to be unable to stay in the customs union without primary legislation to that affect.
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