May wasted a year and has no ‘Brexit plan B’ warns King
Former Bank of England boss blasts PM for failing to prepare for EU talks
THERESA MAY was lambasted for having no Brexit ‘plan B’ yesterday – as she prepared to set out demands for the EU.
The Prime Minister was accused by former Bank of England governor Mervyn King of ‘wasting’ a year.
The pro-Brexit peer said Mrs May’s failure to spell out a ‘fallback’ position meant her threat to walk away if talks broke down was ‘not credible’.
His comments came as it emerged Mrs May will begin a ‘big push’ on Brexit when she returns from holiday.
It follows criticism of the Government for failing to prepare for the next round of talks at the end of this month. Brexit Secretary David Davis was called slapdash after arriving at the first round of talks last month with no notes while his European counterparts had bundles of documents.
The Government is expected to issue ‘position papers’ on key areas, including customs and the Irish border next week.
Officials denied reports that the position papers showed Chancellor Philip Hammond had won his battle for a ‘soft’ Brexit against hardline Ministers such as International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. No10 did not comment, but a senior Government source said: ‘Serious work has been going on in relation to our Brexit position and it’s no surprise that we will be publishing further details.’
Lord King said more work was urgently needed to convince the EU that Britain was serious about walking away. He said: ‘We need to be able to say if we can’t reach an agreement we will nevertheless leave and we can make it work.
‘It has got to be a credible fallback position – otherwise those negotiating on the other side will not take any notice.
‘Why should they, if we had absolutely no alternative but to give in to what they demand?’
Mandarins should help Ministers draw up a ‘practical’ plan, said Lord King, who ran the Bank from 2003 to 2013. He added: ‘We’ve probably wasted a year but we need to be much further along the road.’
Mrs May has said that if the EU fails to offer the UK a good Brexit deal, she will walk away and instead rely on World Trade Organisation rules.
Separately, Brexit Minister Steve Baker has insisted the Government will be ready for a ‘no-deal’ outcome. In a letter to pro-EU Labour MP Chuka Umunna, Mr Baker said Ministers were preparing for all possible results.