Brexit talks begin with focus on citizens’ rights
BREXIT negotiations will get under way in Brussels tomorrow with the rights of EU citizens living in the UK top of the agenda.
Talks between Brexit Secretary David Davis and EU negotiator Michel Barnier mark the start of a scheduled two- year process leading to the UK leaving the European trading bloc.
It was revealed last night that the next Westminster parliamentary session, which begins with Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech, will last two years instead of the customary one year.
This is to allow MPs enough time to fully consider the laws required to make Britain ready for Brexit, such as converting thousands of EU laws into British ones.
Tomorrow’s talks will focus on thorny issues such as citizens’ rights, the financial deal to leave the EU and the Irish border.
A spokesman for Mr Davis’s Brexit department said: “We have been cr ystal clear about our approach to these negotiations.
“Our view is that withdrawal agreement and terms of the future relationship must be agreed alongside each other. We are clear this is what is set out in Article 50.
“We believe that the withdrawal process cannot be concluded without the future relationship also being taken into account.
“As the EU has itself said, ‘nothing is agreed, until everything is agreed’.”
Meanwhile, Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons, said doubling the length of the parliamentary session would create the time for MPs and peers to scr utinise the Gover nment’s approach to both Brexit and its domestic agenda.
She added: “While our top priority is supporting the victims of the terrible tragedy at Grenfell tower, we also need to look ahead by setting out a legislative programme that not only delivers a successful EU exit but also a domestic agenda which aims to tackle the social injustices in our country.
“The UK will spend the next two years preparing for our departure from the European Union in a way that best places us to realise the opportunities ahead and build a fairer society.”
But new SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called for a change in approach over Brexit given the Tories have now been forced into a deal with the DUP, which is also expected to be rubber- stamped tomorrow.
He said: “The SNP has produced credible plans both for dealing with Brexit and an alternative to austerity – protecting our place in the single market and protecting public investment in our public services – and the Tory government must now give these plans serious consideration.”
Last week, the Scottish Government’s Brexit Minister Mike Russell called on the UK Government to “reset the process and substance” of the negotiation process.