The problems surrounding our exit from Euratom continue to reverberate. Tory MPs opposed to Brexit are suggesting they might not support exiting Euratom and Ed Vaizey and Rachel Reeves have written an article in The Telegraph about it (HERE). It appears the EU have said we must leave Euratom because although it is a separate treaty the links, the EU and the ECJ are so intricately connected that we must also depart Europe's nuclear safety body. No Euratom member country is outside the EU.
Now Damian Green, effectively the deputy PM, has become embroiled in the row. Standing in for Mrs May at PMQs (HERE) and defending the decision was answering a question about nuclear radiation sources for medical applications and he claimed Euratom placed no restrictions on exports to non EU countries. He accused those who said it did of scaremongering. The head of Britaoin's Nuclear Industry Association immediately tweeted part of the Euratom treaty showing this was not true. It looks as if the normally reliable Green is beginning to suffer from Brexit overwhelm.
The government has admitted it has not carried out an impact assessment about what happens if we leave Euratom. There is talk of our asking for associate membership but this is just something else we need to renegotiate and we will almost certainly have to accept some ECJ jurisdiction.
InFacts has more on this HERE
InFacts has more on this HERE
