Britain’s EU ‘no deal’ threat is genuine, says Brexit minister

LONDON: Britain is prepared to walk away from divorce talks with the European Union without a deal, Brexit Minister David Davis said on Sunday, but stressed that he thought an agreement was the most likely outcome.

Talks will begin next month on untangling Britain’s relationship with the EU and forging a new trade deal after Britons voted last year to leave the 28-country bloc.

Wary of some in the bloc who might want to see Britain punished for leaving, Prime Minister Theresa May has said that unless she gets the kind of deal she wants from Brussels, she will withdraw without any accord.

The threat has been criticised by her political rivals ahead of a June 8 domestic election as creating unnecessary uncertainty for businesses and setting a potentially damaging tone for the talks.

Davis said the threat was genuine and Britain was prepared to see it through.

“We don’t need to just look like we can walk away, we need to be able to walk away,” he told the Sunday Times newspaper. “Under the circumstances, if that was necessary, we would be in a position to do it.”

In a separate interview, May told the Telegraph that she wanted past contributions to the bloc to be taken into account when working out one of the thorniest issues of the divorce: how much Britain should pay to Brussels when it leaves.

“There is much debate about what the UK’s obligations might be, or indeed what our rights might be in terms of money being paid in the past.” that