Brexiteers’ ‘special spot in hell’
European Council president Donald Tusk sabotaged British Prime Minister Theresa May’s mission to secure vital Brexit concessions from the EU yesterday as he said there was a ‘‘special place in hell’’ for Leave campaigners.
The prime minister had hoped to be given a positive reception in Brussels today, but instead the European Council president poisoned cross-Channel relations with comments described as ‘‘disgraceful’’, ‘‘spiteful’’ and ‘‘arrogant’’ by Cabinet ministers.
MPs demanded in vain that the ‘‘devilish Euro-maniac’’ apologise for his outburst, but instead Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator, fanned the flames by saying even Lucifer would not welcome Brexiteers, because ‘‘after what they did to Britain, they would even manage to divide hell’’.
It came as The Daily Telegraph learnt that if May were to negotiate a new deal, she would delay a parliamentary vote on it until just a month before Brexit day, putting immense pressure on MPs to back it. Several ministers are understood to have warned her against the delay, which they believe makes extending Article 50 inevitable.
May’s visit to Brussels today represents one of her last chances to avoid a no-deal Brexit, as she meets Tusk, Verhofstadt and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, to insist on changes to the backstop element of the Withdrawal Agreement.
May will tell the triumvirate that Britain ‘‘cannot, and will not’’ be trapped in a backstop that would lock it into a customs union with the EU. The backstop was designed to avoid a hard border with Ireland if no trade deal could be agreed during a Brexit transition period, but Parliament rejected it. May will tell Brussels she is ‘‘open to different ways’’ to change the backstop, but they ‘‘must be legally binding’’ and will mean re-opening the Withdrawal Agreement.
Yesterday, as he met Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, Tusk said the EU was not making ‘‘any new offer’’, and added: ‘‘I have been wondering what that special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan to carry it out safely.’’ Varadkar told him as they left a press conference: ‘‘They will give you terrible trouble in the British press for this, but you’re right.’’ Tusk smirked and said: ‘‘I know.’’
Tusk also said he was preparing for ‘‘a possible fiasco’’ if no deal could be agreed.
Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, who backed Brexit, demanded an apology from Tusk.
She said: ‘‘What he has said is pretty unacceptable and pretty disgraceful. I’m sure that when he reflects on it he may well wish he hadn’t done it.’’
Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, described Tusk as ‘‘out of order’’, while Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, said: ‘‘This devilish Euro-maniac is doing his best to keep the United Kingdom bound by the chains of EU bureaucracy and control.’’
Asked whether the comments would contribute towards a positive atmosphere for the PM’s visit to Brussels, May’s spokesman said: ‘‘I think it is a question for Donald Tusk as to whether he considers the use of that kind of language to be helpful.’’
– Telegraph Group