May solid as a rock on Gibraltar5
Prime Minister warns EU over threat of Spanish veto on Brexit talks
THERESA May yesterday delivered an emphatic rebuke to top Eurocrat Donald Tusk over the EU’s attempt to drag the future of Gibraltar into the Brexit negotiations.
During a meeting in Downing Street the Prime Minister told the EU Council President that Britain will refuse to discuss the sovereignty of the territory without the direct consent of its citizens.
Her brusque warning followed his statement last week threatening to give the Spanish government a veto over the terms of any future trade deal between the UK and Brussels affecting the British Overseas Territory.
Mrs May met Mr Tusk for talks yesterday afternoon for the first time since she triggered the EU’s Article 50 departure mechanism. After their meeting a Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister had “made clear that on the subject of Gibraltar, the UK’s position had not changed – the UK would seek the best possible deal for Gibraltar as the UK exits the EU and there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people”.
The EU threat to give Spain a say over Gibraltar’s future has inflamed a diplomatic row right at the official start of the Brexit process.
Spain has territorial claims over Gibraltar despite it being under British protection since 1713.
In the talks yesterday Mrs May also told Mr Tusk that the reaction of the EU and the 27 other member nations had been “constructive” since her triggering of Article 50 last month.
Her spokesman said: “The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s desire to ensure a deep and special partnership with the European Union following its exit and noted the constructive approach set out by the Council in its draft guidelines published last week.
“She said the UK looked forward to formally beginning negotiations once the 27 member states agreed guidelines.
“Both leaders agreed that the tone of discussions had been positive on both sides and agreed that they would seek to remain in close touch as the negotiations progressed.”
Mrs May and Mr Tusk also discussed the agenda for the next EU Council meeting in June.
Speaking before the meeting she said: “We will be talking about the start of the negotiations and how we are going to be taking those negotiations forward.
Believe
“I have obviously sent the letter to invoke Article 50, we have said very clearly we want to maintain a deep and special partnership with the EU and I think that has been reciprocated. I’ll be talking with President Tusk about how we can ensure, within the timescale we have got, that we can deliver a deal that is going to work for the people of the United Kingdom, but I believe that will also be a deal that will work for the EU as well.”
Mr Tusk declined to talk to reporters as he left yesterday simply saying “no” when asked questions including whether Gibraltar had been discussed and what the tone of the talks had been.
He had to leave Number 10 via a back exit because a protest by black cab drivers blocked the main entrance. Friday April 7 2017 A FORMER British ambassador to the EU yesterday savaged the aggressive negotiating stance adopted by Brussels ahead of the forthcoming Brexit talks.
Crossbench peer Lord Hannay accused senior Eurocrats of being “thoroughly unhelpful” in demanding progress on an exit payment before discussions of a trade deal can begin.
His comments came after MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday backed the European Commission’s plan for dealing with the exit terms first.
Lord Hannay, who supported Britain staying in the EU, told peers there was broad support for “the Government’s view that the negotiation on all these matters should go ahead without further delay”.
He pressed the Government to say what steps were being taken with the EU “to soften their unfortunate attachment to a sequential approach”.
Responding for the Government, Baroness Goldie said the two-year time frame for the negotiations, following the triggering of the Article 50 exit clause, would “focus minds”.
Lord Hannay spoke out in the House of Lords ahead of a debate on the expected exit divorce payment, which has been estimated at up to £52billion.
A report from a committee of peers has stated that the EU had no legal grounds to force the UK to pay a divorce bill.
But former Cabinet secretary Lord Butler said “any reasonable claim” by the EU “will not amount to anything like” the 60 billion euro threatened by negotiators.
The committee warned that if the Government wanted goodwill from EU countries and a deal on access to European markets, reaching a divorce agreement was important.
Lib Dem Committee chairwoman Baroness Falkner said Britain’s break from Brussels would be “watched around the world” to see how the UK behaves. Labour’s Lord Tunnicliffe added: “We would struggle to strike deals with new partners if the UK is viewed as unreliable and untrustworthy.”
BORIS HINTS ON FREE MOVEMENT
BRITAIN could allow EU free movement to continue during a transition period to tighter controls, Boris Johnson said last night.
The Foreign Secretary echoed a suggestion by Theresa May that curbs on European workers may have to be phased in some time after the country leaves the EU.
He said on a trip to Greece: “We don’t want to close doors. We simply want to have a system that is balanced.” He did not specify a time period.