We won’t be bounced by Brussels, warns No10
DOWNING Street last night cautioned that Theresa May would not be bounced into a Brexit deal as the European Union said an agreement was imminent.
EU negotiators in Brussels upped the pressure yesterday, suggesting a deal could be struck within the next ten days thanks to an expected breakthrough on the issue of the Irish border.
The Prime Minister is preparing to table new proposals on how to avoid a hard border before a key Brexit summit on October 17. Her plans are expected to suggest that the whole of the UK remains in a customs arrangement with the EU, with Northern Ireland closely aligned to the single market.
Yesterday, Brexit negotiators at the European Commission reportedly told EU member states that a deal on the issue was ‘very close’. The Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, meanwhile, said that an agreement could be struck within the next two weeks.
But Downing Street officials cautioned that Brussels was still unwilling to accept many key aspects of Mrs May’s Chequers plan – and suggested the EU was trying to raise expectations of an agreement to force the PM to compromise.
A Government source said: ‘This is classic EU tactics – trying to ramp up pressure and expectation ahead of [the] October [meeting].’
Both sides are hoping to reach a deal on the so- called withdrawal agreement, which seals Britain’s departure from the EU.
The key sticking point is the issue of the ‘Irish backstop’ – how to avoid a hard border in Ireland if a deal on frictionless trade is not agreed before the end of the transition.
The Irish government yesterday urged Mrs May to bring forward her new proposals as quickly as possible to break the deadlock before the next EU summit, while Dublin’s Europe minister Helen McEntee said she was confident that a deal could be done in time.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We have ten days between the teams to negotiate and we have seen what has happened in a short space of time previously. I think where the will is there it can be done, and I do believe the will is there.’
A Government spokesman last night said: ‘ We will set out our backstop proposal that preserves the integrity of the UK. It will be in line with the commitments we made back in December.’
Even if both sides come to a deal, Mrs May faces significant challenges as she tries to get the legislation through the Commons in order to make it law.
The Democratic Unionist Party, which has lent its support to the Government, yesterday warned Mrs May against making concessions on the border issue. Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s Westminster leader, said it would not tolerate ‘tariffs, checks or anything else between one part of the UK and the other’.
To ensure Brexit passes, the Conservatives are holding behind-thescenes talks with their Labour opponents, it was claimed last night.
They hope to convince MPs that the national interest in preventing the UK from crashing out of Europe with no deal outweighs Labour’s aim of defeating Mrs May’s proposals and seeking a general election.
CABINET ministers believe JeanClaude Juncker’s right-hand man is secretly plotting the reunification of Ireland as punishment for Brexit.
They accuse Martin Selmayr of seeking to break up the UK to discourage other EU countries from quitting the bloc. Brussels has denied the claims.
‘This is classic EU tactics’