RUNNING SCARED
May turns down invite to speak at European Parliament to defend Government position
THERESA May has turned down the chance to defend Britain’s Brexit plans in front of the European Parliament.
The Prime Minister refused the invitation to address MEPs in public, EU sources have claimed.
Instead, she has insisted she will only talk to leaders behind closed doors.
The move will be a seen as a snub to MEPs, who have the power of veto over any withdrawal agreement struck between the UK and the EU.
May said earlier this year that she was in discussions about an appearance.
She would have followed in the footsteps of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher if she had faced MEPs in the Strasbourg chamber. Downing Street said the Prime Minister has accepted EP president Antonio Tajani’s
invitation to Brussels, but confirmed she will address a private meeting of the Conference of Presidents.
The move came as European Commission President JeanClaude Junker appeared to question the “stability” of David Davis during Brexit talks.
Minutes of a European Commission meeting in Brussels revealed the low opinion EU negotiators hold of the UK’s Brexit Secretary.
The minutes read: “Winding up the discussion, the president expressed his concern about the question of the stability and accountability of the UK negotiator and his apparent lack of involvement, which risked jeopardising the success of the negotiations.”
And the Brexit row rumbled on in the Commons too as Labour’s Keir Starmer branded the Great Repeal Bill a “power grab” by ministers.
The Shadow Brexit Secretary forensically tore apart Davis as MPs began a marathon debate on the Bill that will convert EU legislation into British law.
Stramer argued that a string of loopholes in the Bill could be used to allow future ministers to water down workers’ rights and health and safety laws without scrutiny.
But Davis said: “Without this legislation, a smooth and orderly exit is impossible. To delay or oppose the Bill would be reckless in the extreme.”
SNP Europe spokesman Peter Grant said his party would support Labour’s amendment to stop the Bill, despite concerns about the opposition’s Brexit position.
He claimed it proposed an act of “constitutional betrayal”.
Even former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve attacked what he calls an “astonishing monstrosity of a Bill” and warned “the current situation is frankly ridiculous.”
MPs will vote on the Bill on Monday.