May takes control of Brexit talks as deal time ‘ runs out’

PM told Parliament she would lead negotiations with EU

Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday that she would take personal control of Brexit negotiations with the EU, as time runs out to get a deal before Britain leaves the bloc in March.

Overall responsibility for the talks is being moved to the Cabinet Office, the ministry which supports May and where her main Brexit advisor, civil servant Olly Robbins, is based.

The ministry led by Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, ostensibly the public face of the negotiations, will instead focus on domestic preparations for Brexit, including the risk of reaching no deal. “I will lead the negotiations with the European Union, with the secretary of state for exiting the European Union deputising on my behalf,” Ms May said in a statement to Parliament.

Raab, who only took over on July 9 after his predecessor David Davis quit in protest at May’s plan for close economic ties with the EU, denied he had been demoted. He noted he met EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels last week, would see him again this Thursday and intended to make regular visits over the summer.

Raab told a committee of MPs that Ms May’s statement simply confirmed that there is “one team, one chain of command”.

But Jenny Chapman, spokeswoman for the opposition Labour party, said that Raab “has been sidelined by the PM before he has even had the chance to get his feet under the table.”

A shift in responsibility has been under way for months, as Davis was increasingly sidelined by Robbins before he quit — in what one eurosceptic MP suggested on Tuesday was a “coup d’etat”.

But Brexit supporters expressed anger that Raab, a fervent believer in the opportunities of leaving the EU, would not be in charge. “This is absolutely devastating news to the 17.4 million people that voted to leave the EU as we now look set for Brexit In Name Only,” said Richard Tice of campaign group Leave Means Leave.