Anger as Barnier warns financial services in City to brace for curbs

CHIEF Brussels negotiator Michel Barnier faced an angry backlash yesterday after ruling out protection for the City of London in a Brexit trade deal.

In a surprise warning ahead of the next round of talks, he insisted Britain’s financial services industry will be blocked from freely trading across EU borders.

He also signalled that Britain will be forced to accept the continuance of all EU rules and regulations throughout a two-year transition period after quitting the EU in March 2019. His remarks in a newspaper interview yesterday, even before EU leaders have set his negotiating mandate for the next round of talks, provoked extreme irritation among ministers.

They were braced for more tough wrangling with the EU negotiating team when the Brexit discussions resume in Brussels in the New Year.

Labelling it posturing, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson shrugged: “Michel Barnier says lots of things. He is a negotiator. I am quite sure we can deliver the services part of the package that is so vital for the City of London.”

Brexit-backing pressure group Change Britain said that other EU nations had signalled that they want access to the UK’s financial services to remain open after Brexit.

Financial services trade body TheCityUK said: “It might be Christmas but Michel Barnier doesn’t need to play Scrooge.”

EVEN before the referendum on Brexit other EU cities, especially Paris and Frankfurt, were blatantly manoeuvring to take over from the City of London as Europe’s most important financial centre. Now that we have voted to leave the gloves are off. Without even pretending to maintain any standards of fairness or impartiality, Michel Barnier has said that the City will not be protected in a trade deal and Britain’s financial services industry will not be able to trade freely across the EU.

There has already been an angry backlash at these remarks, not least from the leaders of other EU countries, but a couple of points have to be made. First, in his arrogant jumping the gun Mr Barnier has made it quite clear that EU negotiators are not interested in a fair deal for Britain but wish to punish us for our presumption in leaving. Second, what he is hoping for is pie in the sky. The City holds its pre-eminent position as a result of geography, language and expertise, not because Britain is part of the EU and that is not going to change.

In trying to inflict some kind of penalty on us for wishing for our independence, the EU is showing itself at its absolute worst. Bullying, dictatorial, hysterical and totally impervious to the wishes of anyone other than a group of unelected bureaucrats, this is the reality of the EU as it stands today. What they are really terrified of is the prospect of other countries following Britain’s example. Their actions make that ever more likely every day.