Hard #Brexiteers issue 'ransom note'

Just as Brexit Minister David Davis was in Vienna yesterday (20 February) stressing the "mutual recognition" he expected Britain and EU regulatory systems to enjoy after Brexit, so a group of 62 hard Brexiteers in his party were penning a letter with their own quite different set of demands.

That missive to PM Theresa May insists on “full regulatory autonomy” outside the EU and a green light for Britain to start negotiating its own separate trade deals with other countries even during the two-year transition period following March 2019.

The letter - described as a “ransom note” by the Conservative head of parliament’s Treasury select committee - was signed by members of the so-called European Research Group which also published its membership for the first time: no surprises but that includes backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured) and former ministers Ian Duncan Smith and Priti Patel.

The timing is of course no accident - it comes as May battles to reconcile the open differences within her government on what its future relationship with the EU should be.

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