JUNCKER: I’D BE BETTER PM EU chief’s jibe at May as Tories in Brexit turmoil
EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker said he would be a better Prime Minister than Theresa May.
The Brussels chief piled pressure on the Tory leader by insisting he could do a better job for the UK.
The Commission President said the PM had not briefed him on the Chequers meeting of her Brexit war cabinet, where ministers thrashed out plans for further negotiations.
Arriving at an informal meeting of the 27 other EU heads of government, Mr Juncker quipped: “I am not the British Prime Minister. It would be good for Britain if I was, but I’m not.”
The PM will outline her vision for Britain’s future relationship with the EU next Friday. Her speech is a crunch moment as she battles to please Brexiteers and Remainers. Her spokesman claimed Thursday night’s eight-hour lock-in at her country bolt-hole was “very positive... and a step forward”. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain will line up with Brussels in a host of areas, such as the car industry, after Brexit. But he again ruled out a customs union. Mrs May faces a new headache over a potential customs union vote when the Trade Bill returns to the Commons later this spring.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is widely predicted to back a customs union arrangement with the EU in his own speech on Monday
Tory Brexit rebel Anna Soubry, who has tabled the amendment, called on Labour to back it.