Groundhog Davis
UK gets a dressing down because Tory Government still don’t have negotiating positions on key issues
DAVID DAVIS, the UK’s Brexit secretary, has been given a dressing down by his opposite number as talks over leaving the EU headed for deadlock.
The second round of formal talks began yesterday with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warning that the UK must start negotiating seriously on the main conditions laid down by the other 27 states.
These include the status of EU citizens, the cost of Britain’s divorce bill and the future of the Northern Irish border.
Barnier said he was “concerned” at the absence of UK positions on the key issues.
He made it clear the European Commission needed more detail from the UK Government on the divorce deal before future relations and transitional arrangements could be discussed.
Barnier said: “We need you to take positions on all separation issues.
“This is necessary to make sufficient progress. To be honest, I’m concerned, as time passes quickly.
“We must start negotiating seriously. The EU 27 and the European Parliament stand united.
“They will not accept that separation issues are not addressed properly.
“I am ready to intensify negotiations over the coming weeks in order to advance.”
Despite the warning, Davis took a Groundhog day approach, repeating rhetoric about the “flexibility and imagination” required to get a deal that satisfies both sides.
He said: “For the United Kingdom, the week ahead is about driving forward the technical discussions across all the issues. We want to lock in the points where we agree, unpick the areas where we disagree, and make further progress on the whole range of issues.
“Our goal remains the same. We want to agree a deal that works in the best interests of both the European Union and the United Kingdom, and people and businesses right across Europe.”
The talks began as a senior adviser under ex-Labour leaders Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband said the transitional period backed by Jeremy Corbyn could buy time to persuade voters to change their mind on Brexit.
Stewart Wood said Labour’s new policy of a staying in the single market and the customs union after March 2019 could be extended.
Lord Wood said: “I think if I was a Brexiter, I’d be worried that – over the next three or four years – if a transition deal lasts that long that other circumstances will change and the will to move on from transition stage to full Brexit might be less present than it is now.
“I think that’s definitely a possibility.”