May seeks to unite divided Cabinet before Brexit speech
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May tried to unite her fractious Cabinet behind her plan to reboot faltering Brexit negotiations Thursday, as senior European Union officials suggested British hopes of moving the divorce talks on to a new phase next month might be dashed.
May gathered ministers to reveal details of a speech she will deliver in Florence, Italy on Friday. The British leader has chosen one of the historic hearts of Europe as the location for an address that the government says will stress Britain’s desire for a close and special relationship with the bloc after Brexit.
EU leaders want more than warm words — they want details. Britain triggered a two-year countdown to departure from the EU in March. Since then, negotiations have made little progress on key issues including the status of the Ireland-Northern Ireland border and the amount Britain must pay to settle its financial commitments to the bloc.
EU officials say talks can’t move on to future relations with Britain until key divorce terms — the Irish border, the financial settlement and the rights of citizens hit by Brexit — have been agreed upon.
May’s speech is intended to help break the logjam. Reports suggest she will assure EU leaders that Britain is willing to pay its fair share, and may propose a two-year transition period in which the U.K. would retain access to EU markets and institutions after ceases to be a member of the bloc in March 2019.
But the British leader is caught in a bind. The EU is seeking a multibillion-pound payment that is anathema to the more euroskeptic members of May’s government.
May’s Cabinet is split between Brexit true believers, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who want a sharp break with the EU and those such as Treasury chief Philip Hammond who want to soften the economic impact of Brexit through a long status-quo transition period.
Johnson blasted open government divisions over Europe with a long newspaper article last week laying out his vision of a “glorious Brexit” — a move widely seen as pre-empting May’s announcements in her Florence speech.
May faced calls to fire the foreign secretary, and had to insist that she remains in control, saying the government is “driven from the front.”
Thursday’s Cabinet meeting was the first opportunity for most ministers to hear details of May’s Florence speech. The meeting stretched on for an exceptionally long two and a half hours before ministers emerged with fixed smiles. In a display of unity, Johnson and Hammond — leading advocates of “hard” and “soft” Brexit respectively — walked out the door of 10 Downing St. side by side.
Britain hopes EU leaders will agree at an Oct. 19-20 meeting that “sufficient progress” has been made and the talks can move on to phase two: the future relations and trade between the U.K. and the bloc.
A senior EU official, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that “it’s too early to tell” whether that will happen.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said “there is still today major uncertainty on each of the key issues of the first phase.”
“To make progress, we are waiting for clear commitments from the U.K. on these precise issues,” Barnier told Italian parliamentarians in Rome. “We will listen attentively and constructively to Theresa May’s important speech tomorrow in Florence.”
Barnier, who will meet with British negotiators next week for a new round of talks, has repeatedly warned that time is of the essence. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but any deal must be sealed by October 2018 to leave time for national parliaments to endorse it.
“The question facing us over the coming months is serious, but simple,” Barnier said. “Will the United Kingdom leave in an orderly fashion with an agreement, or not?”