Fears over bugged talks on Brexit
Brussels has refused to deny reports that its Brexit negotiators fear they are being bugged by British spies, amid tensions over whether an agreement between the parties can be reached in time.
BRUSSELS HAS refused to deny reports that its Brexit negotiators fear they are being bugged by British spies, amid continuing tensions over whether an agreement between the parties can be reached in time for next March.
Officials raised security concerns after the UK obtained sensitive documents “within hours” of them being discussed, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Sabine Weyand, the EU’s deputy chief Brexit negotiator, reportedly told officials at a European Council working party on exit talks that “it could not be excluded” that British intelligence had penetrated their meetings.
British negotiators were said to have obtained the contents of a slide presentation that set out the European Commission’s negative economic assessments of UK plans to remain in a single market for goods.
The contents were shared on July 5, the day before Prime Minister Theresa May gathered the Cabinet at Chequers to sign off her Brexit blueprint.
Hours after the presentation, the UK lobbied at the “highest level” to block plans to publish the slides, according to the newspaper.
A European Commission spokesman told journalists in Brussels at a regular briefing: “The commission’s position today is that we cannot comment on this press report.”
The claim came as Brexit talks resumed in Brussels between UK and EU officials yesterday in the hope of resolving differences between the two sides. The EU has previously said a deal needs to be signed by October in order for it to be ratified and scrutinised in time for the March departure date.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier are not involved in the latest round of discussions, which are focused on the Irish border and future relations, and are due to finish today.
The spokesman said: “As this week’s round is at technical level there won’t be a meeting between Michel Barnier and Dominic Raab. We will confirm in due course whether a subsequent meeting has been arranged.”
Meanwhile, the chairmen of Stoke City and Burnley have warned that top-flight football is at risk of being damaged by Brexit.
The end of freedom of movement along with the fall in the value of the pound will harm British clubs, Peter Coates and Mike Garlick said.
Voters in both areas overwhelmingly backed Brexit but the two chairmen said they backed holding a referendum on the outcome of the exit negotiations.
Stoke boss Mr Coates said: “I love football, and I love Stoke City. I want the best for our club and for the future of our national sport.
“It’s hard to see how a botched Brexit will help either, and the negative consequences are plain for all to see.
“The fall in the value of the pound that we’ve already seen, as well as the risk to our country’s economic prosperity, cannot be brushed under the carpet.
“Depending on the Brexit deal, the Premier League, one of our country’s success stories, could be damaged by freedom of movement restrictions. This could also affect the Championship.”
He added: “If this goes badly, it will be places like Stoke that suffer the most.”
In Stoke-on-Trent, 69 per cent of voters backed Brexit and 67 per cent voted in Burnley to quit.
The People’s Vote campaign pointed to figures showing the pound was worth 1.30 against the euro the day before the referendum compared with 1.12 on Wednesday.
224 The number of days until the UK leaves the European Union on March 29, 2019.