May demands respect from EU
British leader accuses bloc of creating impasse
A day after being humiliated by EU leaders, British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would not back down in Brexit negotiations and demanded they show her country “respect.”
She accused the European Union of creating an “impasse” in the “divorce” negotiations by bluntly rejecting her blueprint for Brexit and said the EU must now lay out “what the real issues are and what their alternative is.”
“The EU should be clear: I will not overturn the result of the referendum, nor will I break up my country,” May said in a short speech. “We need serious engagement on resolving the two big problems in the negotiations. We stand ready.
“At this late stage in the negotiations, it’s not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counter proposals.”
May’s strong words were backed by Arlene Foster, the DUP leader whose 10 MPs are keeping the Tories in power. Foster said: “The United Kingdom will not be treated in such a manner.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: “The Prime Minister has shown steely resolve at the eleventh hour and is standing up to the EU bullies.”
The developments come after May was humiliated on Thursday at a summit in Salzburg where EU leaders condemned her so-called “Chequers plan” — named after the prime minister’s country retreat where it was first hatched — as unworkable.
The Chequers plan aims to keep the U.K. in the EU single market for goods but not services and an open border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.
But EU officials have been cool on the plan from the start, saying Britain can’t “cherry-pick” elements of membership in the bloc without accepting all the costs and responsibilities.
British politicians and diplomats were also taken aback by European Council President Donald Tusk’s blunt dismissal of the Chequers plan — and by his lighthearted Instagram post showing Tusk and May looking at a dessert tray and the words: “A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.”
Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, compared the U.K. and the EU to “two loving hedgehogs,” as when they “hug each other, you have to be careful that there will be no scratches.”
With a little over six months to go before the U.K. is due to leave the EU, the latest developments sent the pound down over fears a deal might not be reached.
“May is playing for the domestic audience, which she continues to do in her speech today,” said Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the European Policy Centre, a think tank in Brussels. “Toward November-December, the U.K.’s real concessions will need to come, which she can only get through the Commons if the country is looking down the abyss to no deal.”
May now faces a crucial Cabinet meeting on Monday when ministers are expected to call for a “Plan B.”
“Monday is the crunch point,” one source told The Daily Telegraph.
“Everybody will want something that can be delivered. We have to have a ‘Plan B’ now — ‘Plan A’ is out of the window,” the source added.
In a statement late Friday, Tusk said the British government had known of the bloc’s objections to May’s proposal for weeks — a direct rebuttal of her suggestion it hadn’t explained its position. Even so, the EU had treated it as a “step in the right direction,” he said.
“While understanding the logic of the negotiations, I remain convinced that a compromise, good for all, is still possible,” he said.
Tusk also justified the EU’s uncompromising reaction to the Chequer’s plan because of May’s attitude.
“The UK stance presented just before and during the Salzburg meeting was surprisingly tough and in fact uncompromising,” he said.
An EU source added: “When May started saying, ‘Its Chequers or no deal’ the room was shocked. It was assumed that stuff was reserved for the British audience, but to see her dishing up to EU leaders, well that changed the dynamic.”
May’s stance was greeted warmly by some.
“The Prime Minister gave an extraordinary, unflinching address that was, quite simply, the political speech of her life,” wrote Judith Woods in the Telegraph.
“Although ostensibly aimed at the nation, her strong and yes, stable, words were also aimed at a much wider audience. They served as a withering riposte to the bully boys of Europe.”