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She wants to get on to the front foot in Brexit negotiations but her plan faces one significant hurdle: her warring cabinet will first have to decide what to put in the policy document, including agreeing a plan for a future customs relationship. [...]
Brexit secretary David Davis told ministerial colleagues that the white paper would be published in June and would be “our most significant publication on the EU since the referendum” in 2016.
[...]The white paper will cover issues including customs, regulatory divergence and the financial services sector. It will also examine a future security relationship.
[...]However Mr Davis’s team do not expect the white paper to describe in detail the UK’s interpretation of the “backstop” plan for the Irish border. Under this, London and Brussels have agreed to guarantee no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Government officials said the white paper would be produced “next month”, implying that it would be ready before the EU summit in Brussels on June 28-29, which will consider the progress of Brexit talks. [...]
There will be a significant section on financial services, building on a speech given by chancellor Philip Hammond in March which called for a bespoke trade agreement that maintained equivalent levels of regulation — while allowing some divergence. The EU has already reacted coolly to the proposal.
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)