Brexit talks start amid uncertainty

BRITAIN’S Brexit minister pledged to get down to work as he kicked off a first full round of negotiations yesterday, but a year after Britons voted narrowly to leave the EU their government seemed at war with itself over the divorce terms.

Her authority diminished after losing her majority in a June election she did not need to call, Prime Minister Theresa May has struggled to control rival cabinet ministers, worrying European Union negotiators who say 20 months until Brexit is too little time to negotiate an orderly departure.

“It’s time to get down to work and make this a successful negotiation,” veteran anti-EU campaigner David Davis said as he was welcomed by the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, before their teams began four days of talks.

In London, the media was rife with reports of infighting, echoing the Leave-Remain rifts that May’s Conservatives suffered during the EU referendum.

Her spokesman said she would tell ministers not to reveal cabinet discussions.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in Brussels for a separate meeting, passed up a chance to deny that ministers were at odds.

His backing helped secure a four-point victory for the Leave camp in June last year.

Asked point blank whether the cabinet was still split on Brexit, Johnson simply said he was pleased negotiations had begun and then defended the offer May had made to protect the rights of EU citizens in Britain.

Finance Minister Philip Hammond, who like May campaigned last year to keep Britain in the EU, accused unnamed colleagues of trying to undermine what is seen as his push for a “soft Brexit” that prioritises trade rather than hardliners’ demands for controls on EU immigration or an end to EU legal oversight.

Splits in London over basic issues, like the need for a phased withdrawal lasting some years, could raise the risk of a failure to reach any deal, EU officials said.

That would raise huge uncertainty for businesses and millions of people across Europe as Britain would simply be out of the bloc on March 30 2019 with no clear rules on what that should mean.

London and Brussels have taken initial negotiating positions, saying they are ready for such an outcome. – Reuters