Noticed
At the end of the two-day gathering in Biarritz, the Prime Minister admitted to being “marginally more optimistic” after meeting EU Council President Donald Tusk and other European leaders. Asked about Mr Trump’s doubts, the PM said: “What I heard him say is that the EU are tough negotiators but so are the Americans. But that doesn’t mean we won’t do a deal and I am working very hard to do that.”
He added: “I do think that the EU does tend to come to an agreement right at the end – that’s what I’ve noticed in my own observation of Brussels negotiations.
“Clearly, for us, the walking away, as it were, would come on October 31 when we would take steps to come out.”
Mr Johnson also ruled out suspending Parliament to prevent MPs stopping a no-deal Brexit, and said: “It’s the job of everybody in Parliament to get this thing done.” At another news conference, Mr Trump lavished praise on Mr Johnson.
He said: “I’ve been waiting for him to be Prime Minister for six years. I told him – what took you so long?”
But he told how the UK “may need to get out” of Europe without a deal because “the EU is very tough to make a deal with, Theresa May found out”.
Earlier, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, took a hard line on the £39billion divorce bill.
He said: “If the UK doesn’t pay what is due, the EU will not negotiate a trade deal.
“After a no-deal, this will be a first condition of any talks. Britain is better than this.” as