‘Brexit compromises will have to be made’

BREXIT SECRETARY David Davis has admitted compromises will have to be made with Brussels in the Brexit talks – and promised businesses the Government will not “pull up the drawbridge” on immigration.

The Haltemprice and Howden MP insisted the country had “very good reason to feel optimistic” and the UK and EU should aim for an “ambitious and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement of unprecedented scope”.

He was speaking ahead of a meeting in Downing Street last night between Theresa May, EU Commission president JeanClaude-Juncker and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Speaking to the Prosperity UK conference in London, which brought together business leaders who supported each side during last year’s EU referendum, Mr Davis said: “Securing an agreement with the EU, within the twoyear period, about our withdrawal and the shape of our future relationship will be challenging.

“We will have difficult issues to confront.

“Compromises will be necessary on both sides.”

He said visits to a dozen EU countries over recent weeks – including four in the last couple of days – had convinced him that the remaining member states wish to conduct negotiations “in a spirit of sincere co-operation”.

He denied suggestions that Britain might take a “divide and rule” approach, playing the EU27 off against one another.

“Far from it,” said Mr Davis. “We want the European Union to be united. Not just for the good of our continent, but also because

it makes sense in the negotiations upon which we are about to embark.

“We want the negotiations to be swift and effective, so unity amongst the 27 helps with that.”

It is expected that one of the first items of business in the Brexit talks will be EU countries’ demand that the UK pay a ‘divorce bill’ of around £50bn to settle its liabilities.

The Government has indicated it will resist the demand but in a speech today, CBI directorgeneral Carolyn Fairburn is set to suggest it could be a price worth paying if it paves the way for a comprehensive deal covering EUUK trade which is worth £500bn a year.

She will say: “A one-off EU divorce bill of, some suggest, tens of billions of euros, compared to EUUK trade worth well over 600 billion euros every year.

“What is in both sides’ longterm mutual interest must not be clouded.

“It’s important that policy makers in the UK and Europe listen to these messages from the factory floors, labs and studios of firms across Europe.

“That they fully understand the realities of inter-connected, 21st century supply chains that have driven prosperity for so long.

“And that we move quickly from deconstructing our old relationship to building an ambitious, comprehensive new relationship.”