UK seeks to break Brexit deadlock
Talks continue with EU chiefs to win concessions ahead of Commons vote
POLITICS: The UK is prepared to be “flexible” over how to address concerns over the Northern Ireland backstop, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said as efforts continued to end the Brexit impasse.
Ministers were holding fresh talks in Brussels in a renewed effort to secure changes to the backstop.
THE UK is prepared to be “flexible” over how to address concerns over the Northern Ireland backstop, Jeremy Hunt said as efforts continued to end the Brexit impasse.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay were holding fresh talks in Brussels yesterday in a renewed effort to secure changes to the backstop in order to allay fears that it could leave the UK trapped in a customs union with the EU.
Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt said Europe’s leaders were “prepared to be reasonable” as Prime Minister Theresa May presses for concessions from the EU that will persuade MPs to back her Brexit deal in next week’s expected crunch Commons vote.
Mr Hunt, who has been part of a diplomatic push in capital cities around the European Union, said: “I think the signals we are getting are reasonably positive. I don’t want to overstate them because I still think there’s a lot of work to do, but I think they do understand that we are being sincere.
“I think that they are beginning to realise that we can get a majority in Parliament because they are seeing the signals coming from the people who voted against the deal before who are saying, crucially, that they are prepared to be reasonable about how we get to that position that we can’t legally be trapped in the backstop.”
Mr Cox has reportedly dropped attempts to secure either a time limit or a unilateral exit mechanism from the backstop in the face of entrenched opposition from the EU.
Asked whether they were still the UK’s demands, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the crucial issue was avoiding an indefinite backstop and “how we get there is something we are prepared to be flexible about”. That could mean a role for a “fair arbitration mechanism”, he said.
Mr Cox had earlier poured cold water on the claims about his demands being dropped, describing then as “misunderstood fag ends dressed up as facts”.
The Prime Minister is set to bring her deal back to the Commons for a vote by March 12.
If it is rejected, MPs will get the chance to either back a no-deal Brexit or call for the UK’s departure from the EU to be delayed beyond the current March 29 deadline.
Mr Hunt hinted that even if a deal is agreed, March 29 might not be an achievable date.
“We all want to leave at the end of this month,” he told Today. “It depends on how quickly we can get a deal through and then the time that’s necessary for the legislation.”
Mr Hunt said that although the UK would “find a way to prosper” in a no-deal scenario, it would cause “huge disruption”, adding: “I don’t think anyone in the Cabinet wants no deal.”
Mrs May’s hopes of winning over Tory Eurosceptics hinge on Mr Cox being able to change his legal advice about the indefinite nature of the backstop, which is intended to ensure there is no hard border on the island of Ireland in the absence of a future free trade agreement.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron signalled that he would firmly resist any measure that might diminish the security and integrity of the EU’s external border and internal market. He also accused Brexiteers of lying about the consequences of leaving the EU.
Separately, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has voiced concern over possible restrictions on healthcare access for UK citizens living on the Continent after a nodeal Brexit. His comment came in a letter to the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, setting out proposals backed by the House of Commons to protect expats’ rights if the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement.