Time to call EU bluff

WHEN the annals of Brexit are written, the last week may be viewed as the moment the phony war ended.

After months demands from Brussels for Britain to begin ‘negotiating seriously’, Brexit Secretary David Davis laid down a set of proposals which he believes can shape Britain’s future relationship with the EU.

At its heart is a bilateral free-trade agreement; a blueprint for doing business with the single market without being inside it – no tariffs and no petty protectionism.

There is already free trade between us. We have incorporated all existing EU legislation into British law and although free movement will end as we take back control of our borders, Mr Davis has pledged to secure the rights of all EU nationals living in Britain. There could hardly be a better starting point.

But where Britain offers flexibility and co-operation, Brussels responds with intransigence and demands for money.

The other key moment of the week was Theresa May’s welcome – if ambitious – announcement that she plans to lead the Tories into the next election.

She also let it be known that she would go over Mr Barnier’s head to break the Brexit deadlock and appeal directly to the elected leaders of Germany, France and other individual nations.

Unlike the unaccountable Brussels commissars, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and the rest are keenly aware that they have more to lose than we do if these talks fail. Mr Barnier is their servant and they will not put up with his mulishness much longer if it threatens their own commercial interests.

So we must stand up to him and continue to insist that trade talks and the divorce terms have to be discussed together.

As Mr Barnier says, the clock is ticking. But he is in a far weaker position than he pretends. We should call his bluff.