The Irish Times view on Britain after Brexit

The grip of the Tory Eurosceptic right on the party has not, it appears, weakened. As new British prime minister Rishi Sunak, himself a fervent Brexiteer, made clear speaking on Monday to British business, his administration will have no truck with proposals floated in recent days that would see a UK realignment with EU regulations, freer immigration, and deference to the European Court in dispute resolution – the so-called Swiss model.

The idea of the UK adopting the Swiss trade relationship with the EU appears to have emanated in press leaks from ex-remainer, chancellor Jeremy Hunt. The debate has missed the point that Switzerland’s EU relationship was built up through various ad hoc measures over the years and that the EU is not overly keen on parts of it.

Hunt seemed to have been given a free hand to junk libertarian economics but not the sacred cow of Brexit trade policy. Hunt last week told the BBC that “unfettered trade” with neighbours was “very beneficial to growth” – the UK Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate post-Brexit trade friction will inflict a 4 per cent medium-term hit to UK GDP .

Observers of the British Brexit debate will have a sense of deja vu. Albeit dressed in a somewhat different garb, the Swiss model bears a resemblance to the deal agreed with the EU by former prime minister Theresa May and voted down by the Commons at Boris Johnson’s instigation. It was also rejected then by the DUP, although containing no provisions for protocol-like internal sea borders that its replacement would bring.

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May’s proposal obviated the need for such internal border controls by maintaining the UK’s membership of the EU Single Market. As a member of the European Free Trade Association, Switzerland is selectively but deeply integrated into the single market. It must align its laws with EU ones in relevant areas to maintain that access, pays into the EU budget, and accepts the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU. Access to the Single Market, in other words, comes with terms and conditions, all currently unacceptable to the UK.