‘Unity’ plea to foil French hopes of using Brexit to wreck Britain’s economy
The warnings to unite come as Mr Davis prepares to lock horns with the European Commission’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier this week for the second round of negotiations.
Over the weekend, other EU allies in Britain, led by disgraced ex-prime minister Tony Blair, also came out in a bid to unsettle Mrs May’s position. Mr Blair suggested “Brexit will not happen”.
A memo from another leading Remainer, ex-Lib Dem minister Jeremy Browne, showed France was hoping to capitalise on the chaos caused by Remainers in Britain’s negotiation to wreck the UK economy.
Mr Browne, who acts as the City of London’s envoy on Brexit, said the French see the British as “adversaries” in the withdrawal negotiations.
In the memo leaked to a Sunday paper he said the mood was made “more giddy and more assertive” by the election of President Emmanuel Macron.
After meeting banking chiefs, politicians and diplomats, Mr Browne wrote: “They are crystal clear about their underlying objective: the weakening of Britain, the ongoing degradation of the City of London.
“The meeting with the French Central Bank was the worst I have had anywhere in the EU. They are in favour of the hardest Brexit. They want disruption. They actively seek disaggregation of financial services provision”.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the party could try to keep the UK under Brussels rule in the single market and customs union. She said: “We want to retain the current benefits that we have as a member of the single market.”