Pro-Brexit ministers could live with ‘limit on backstop’

Bloomberg

Pro-Brexit members of Theresa May’s Cabinet would be willing keep Britain tied to the European Union’s customs regime for as long as five years in an effort to break the deadlock in divorce talks, people familiar with the matter said.
The prime minister is trying to renegotiate the so-called backstop guarantee for avoiding a hard border with Ireland because euroskeptic Conservatives fear it will trap Britain inside the customs union indefinitely. Without their support, May can’t get her deal ratified in Parliament. So far European officials have refused to countenance major changes to the backstop and the stalemate threatens to force Britain out of the EU with no deal at the end of March.
Last month, Poland’s foreign minister suggested a five-year time limit would be a good way out of the impasse. While the idea was quickly knocked down by EU and Irish leaders, a number of senior pro-Brexit members of May’s top team privately say they would be willing to accept such a long-term commitment, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named.
Escaping the bloc’s customs and tariff regime is a key prize of Brexit in the eyes of those who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU. In talks in Brussels, May has been suggesting a time limit to the backstop, although she’s not set out how long this should be. Many staunch Brexit supporters would accept one year in the backstop but ministers in May’s Cabinet, among other senior euroskeptics, are now ready to be more flexible.