DON’T MEDDLE IN OUR ELECTION
Furious Theresa May’s message to EU bullies...
THERESA May declared war on Brussels last night as she appealed to voters: “Give me your backing to fight for Britain.”
She accused EU negotiators of provocations “deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election on June 8”.
The Prime Minister said they were plotting to wreck the Brexit talks and undermine Britain’s prosperity.
The “bureaucrats of Brussels” were trying to “run over us”, she said in a dramatic Downing Street address.
Her blistering rhetoric, recalling Margaret Thatcher during her quarrels with Europe, dramatically raised the stakes over Brexit.
It followed a series of increasingly vicious briefings from sources close to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker which began after the EU departure talks formally opened last week.
Relations between Downing Street and Brussels were further soured yesterday when EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier claimed that Britain should be braced for a “painful” Brexit while other Brussels sources
indicated that the demand for a divorce fee from UK taxpayers could soar to 100billion euros (£85billion).
Mrs May spoke out yesterday shortly after meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace to confirm the dissolution of Parliament for the election campaign.
Speaking at a lectern in front of the door of Number 10, the Prime Minister said the victor in the June 8 poll will face one “overriding task” of seeking “to get the best possible deal for this United Kingdom from Brexit”.
She said: “In the last few days, we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be.
“Britain’s negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press.
“The European Commission’s negotiating stance has hardened.
“Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials.
“All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election that will take place on June 8.”
The aggression from Brussels contrasted with her promise, in a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk, that Britain meant “no harm to our friends and allies on the continent”.
Mrs May said she wanted a deal with Brussels that would guarantee “a deep and special partnership” between the UK and the bloc.
However, she warned: “The events of the last few days have shown that – whatever our wishes, and however reasonable the positions of Europe’s other leaders – there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper.
“So now more than ever we need to be led by a Prime Minister and a Government that is strong and stable.”
Her broadside was being seen last night as particularly targeted at Mr Juncker, whose aides have been blamed for a poisonous account published in a German newspaper of the Downing Street dinner with Mrs May last week which kicked off the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Juncker yesterday insisted: “I deeply respect the British Prime Minister – I like her as a person”. But he added: “I have noted that she is a tough lady.”
Mrs May declared that making a success of Brexit was “central” to Britain’s national interest. “While there is enormous opportunity for Britain as we leave the European Union, if we do not get this right, the consequences will be serious and they will be felt by ordinary, working people across the country,” the Prime Minister said.
“This Brexit negotiation is central to everything. If we don’t get the negotiation right, your economic security and prosperity will be put at risk and the opportunities you seek for your families will simply not happen.”
To voters she said: “As we face this critical time for our country – five years that will determine the course of this United Kingdom for generations to come – we must do so together with a unity of purpose to make a success of Brexit and to build a stronger, more secure country too.
“Give me your backing to speak for Britain. Give me your backing to fight for Britain and give me your backing to deliver for Britain.”
Mr Barnier, who will lead the EU negotiating team, then raised the stakes. He said: “Some have created the illusion that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives or that negotiations can be concluded quickly and painlessly. This is not the case.
“We need sound solutions, we need legal precision and this will take time,” he said.
Mr Barnier did not rule out the 100billion euro figure but claimed it was money the UK owed.
“This is not a punishment, nor is it an exit tax of some kind – the Union and the United Kingdom have mutual commitments,” he said.
“Basically, we have to close the account, and it is no more and no less. No punishment – there is no ‘Brexit bill’.”
Tory EU Exit Secretary David Davis said: “We have said we will meet our international obligations, but they will be our international obligations including assets and liabilities and they will be the ones that are correct in law, not just the ones the Commission want. We will not be paying 100billion euros.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Theresa May is playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories.
“By winding up the public confrontation with Brussels, the Prime Minister wants to wrap the Conservative party in the Union Jack and distract attention from her government’s economic failure.”
THERESA MAY has accused “the bureaucrats of Brussels” of hardening their Brexit negotiation stance in a deliberate bid to influence the general election. In recent days we have not only seen a negative account of Mrs May’s meeting with EU officials leaked but also learned that some in Brussels expect us to pay a divorce bill of £85billion.
If the Eurocrats really think these hardball tactics will force us into submission, then they know nothing about the British character. Ours is a country that has always stood up to bullies and we are a people that prize politeness, decency and a sense of fair play. The dishonest briefings from the Juncker camp and the endless demands for stupid amounts of money show our values are not shared by Brussels.
If we are asked to pick sides between arrogant, out-of-touch Eurocrats who have no respect for us or our country and a Prime Minister who has pledged to speak for Britain, then it is obvious the decision that voters will make.
Indeed one need only glance at opinion polls or knock on a few voters’ doors to see which way the country is going.
Those in Brussels seeking to undermine the Prime Minister will see their tactics spectacularly backfire. The rows over recent days will have only strengthened her support.
After winning the overwhelming backing of the British people at the general election, she will be perfectly placed to take on these Eurocrats.