EU WANTS THE PM DANCING TO ITS IRISH TUNE
Charm offensive to push bad deal
THE EU appeared to press Theresa May to agree a new Northern Ireland border yesterday as it launched a charm offensive to butter us up for a bad Brexit.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held out the tantalising prospect of a deal in as little as 10 days.
And in a co-ordinated effort to have us accept a Canada-style free trade deal, European Council boss Donald Tusk said he was “pro-British” – and predicted a deal by Christmas.
Sources in Brussels added a compromise over the future of the Irish border was imminent.
Mr Juncker said: “We are not there yet. But our will to reach an understanding with the British Government is unbroken. We have to get away from this no-deal scenario. It wouldn’t be good for Britain or for the rest of the EU.” In Whitehall, this was seen as a bid to get us to agree to a new Northern Ireland border in the middle of the Irish Sea. Mrs May – mocked for her dancing at the Tory Party conference last week – has already told the EU that is a no-no, as it would split up the UK. But Mr Juncker insisted if a deal was not done this month, it would be by midNovember. And Mr FIRST Lady Melania Trump joked yesterday that she sometimes has to tell husband Donald to plonk his phone down.
She also tells him when she doesn’t agree with his tweets – but he won’t always listen.
Posing by the Pyramids outside Cairo at the end of her solo African tour, she laughed “Yes” when asked if she had ever told Trump, 72, to put his phone down.
She added: “I don’t always agree with his tweets. I tell him that and give him my honest opinion and advice. Sometimes he listens – sometimes he doesn’t.”
Protests raged on in Washington yesterday over Brett Kavanaugh joining the Supreme Court despite sex attack claims.
But former model Melania, 48, praised Judge Kavanaugh as “highly qualified”.
Judge Kavanaugh, who denies the claims, was expected to be confirmed by the Senate as a Supreme Court justice last night. Tusk added: “I have hope close to certainty we will reach an agreement. We will try for it in October.”
The EU’s two top figures spoke as the bloc was expected to unveil new proposals for Brexit this week.
Its chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, was locked in talks with Irish leaders on Friday.
With 80 per cent of withdrawal from the EU now agreed, the Irish border remains the biggest sticking point.
And the Prime Minister has warned the EU that her Chequers proposal is the only one on the table.
Mrs May is adamant the kind of free trade deal Canada has with Brussels will not solve the Irish issue.
Last night, she sounded a note of caution over yesterday’s outpourings of optimism from the EU.
A No10 source told the Sunday Mirror: “We’re working hard for a deal this autumn. But there remain big issues to work through and this will require movement from the EU side.”