Accept Chequers... or it’s no deal on Brexit
PM’s ultimatum to French as cracks show in EU’s resolve
THERESA May will today warn Emmanuel Macron that the EU faces a choice of ‘Chequers deal or no deal’ in autumn Brexit talks.
The Prime Minister cut short her holiday in Italy to travel to the French president’s summer retreat Fort Bregancon in a bid to sell her controversial Chequers proposals to him.
France’s hard line on Brexit is seen in London as a major stumbling block to a successful negotiation this autumn.
In a major diplomatic push this week, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Mrs May have all travelled to France to make the case for a softening of attitude.
A government source last night said Mrs May’s message to Mr Macron would be: ‘It’s the Chequers deal or no deal.’
Tory sources said Mrs May would also point to the furious reaction the deal has caused in her own party, including the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis and warnings of a grassroots revolt.
‘Anyone who looks at British politics now can see that she doesn’t have any more room for manoeuvre on this,’ a source said.
Today’s informal summit is the first opportunity Mrs May has had to brief Mr Macron in person on the Chequers proposal.
She and her husband Philip will leave their summer holiday in the Italian lakes a day early to travel to the Mediterranean island off Toulon, which has served as the summer retreat for French presidents since 1968. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned last week that Brussels ‘cannot and will not’ accept the customs arrangements that lie at the heart of the Chequers plan.
But ministers are now trying to appeal directly to EU member states to keep the deal alive – warning that there is no viable alternative on the table.
Mr Hunt prepared the ground for Mrs May’s trip with a visit to Paris in which he warned it was a ‘profound misunderstanding of us as a nation’ to expect Britain to capitulate to the EU’s demands. In an article yesterday Mr Barnier gave the first hint he is softening his position on the vexed question of how to guarantee there is no ‘hard border’ on the island of Ireland, even if trade talks fail.
The EU’s existing ‘backstop’ proposals would place a customs border down the Irish Sea, leading to claims that Northern Ireland would be ‘annexed’ by Brussels.
Mrs May has warned the plans would never be acceptable to any British government. In a rare climbdown, Mr Barnier said Brussels was ‘ready to improve the text of our proposal with the UK’. He added he remained ‘confident’ negotiations can ‘reach a good outcome’.
But Mr Barnier also repeated his opposition to Mrs May’s customs plan, saying: ‘Some UK proposals would undermine our single market which is one of the EU’s biggest achievements.’
Ahead of today’s meeting, Lord Ricketts, Britain’s former ambassador to France, said Mr Macron ‘doesn’t believe in softening’ the position on Brexit as ‘he is a passionate pro-European’.
‘He is the last person to want to break ranks with what has been quite an impressively disciplined EU side,’ he told the BBC. ‘I’m all for Theresa May going and talking to Macron ... but I think we have got to accept we have got to do the hard yards of negotiating in Brussels, we are not going to find the French or any other major country wanting to break ranks.’