Obstructive EU

ROUND three of the Brexit talks and still the chief Brussels negotiator shows no sign of allowing discussions on the vital matter of our future trading relationship even to begin.

Indeed, yesterday he appeared more obstructive than ever – emboldened, perhaps, by Labour’s weekend betrayal of its core voters, when the party swung round to oppose Brexit in all but name.

Stooping to a new low, Michel Barnier even suggested that without EU cooperation over defence and security, postBrexit Britain will be more vulnerable to terrorism (though he hastily contradicted himself by adding: ‘The safety of our fellow citizens is not being marketed.’)

Has he forgotten the UK is one of Europe’s two strongest military powers, with its leading intelligence agencies, MI5 and GCHQ?

Worst of all, Mr Barnier persists in his refusal to discuss trade before progress is made on the ‘key separation issues’ of rights for expats, the Irish border and the EU’s inflated divorce bill.

Yet Britain’s negotiators have already put forward eminently reasonable proposals on the first two of these side-issues.

As for a cash settlement, it’s up to him to say how much he thinks we owe and why. But even this must depend on the nature of any trade deal. Indeed, it’s preposterous to ask us to make an offer before we know what we’ll get in return. It looks like a deliberate attempt to sabotage the talks in the hope of delaying Brexit indefinitely.