Now EU claims Britain is bugging Brussels officials

BREXIT negotiations took a bizarre turn last night after claims British security services are bugging Brussels officials.

EU officials raised concerns after the UK obtained the contents of an unpublished slide show presentation within hours of a meeting, the Daily Telegraph reported.

A senior member of Michel Barnier’s negotiating team raised the issue at a meeting on July 13, it was claimed. Sabine Weyand reportedly told the European Council’s Article 50 Working Party that ‘it could not be excluded’ that British intelligence had penetrated their meetings.

The claims are likely to be seen as a bid to undermine Britain’s attempts to present itself as an honest broker as talks intensify. Last night a senior Government source denied the ‘crazy’ claims outright.

Miss Weyand’s fears relate to a slide show presented on July 5 – the day before the crunch Chequers summit. The slides showed the European Commission’s economic assessments of UK plans to keep single market rules relating to goods.

They are reportedly highly critical of the proposal, warning such a move would give the UK a competitive advantage.

Within hours the UK had lobbied ‘at the highest level’ to block EU Commission plans to publish the slides, it was said. Such a move would have been deeply damaging for No 10. The report even hinted that Theresa May may have raised the slide show personally with Angela Merkel.

According to the Telegraph, Brussels has now put a ‘fierce new secretary’ outside the secure Brexit meeting room to collect phones and other electronic devices.