FREDDIE GETS THE FINAL SAY ON DRAMATIC DAY
FRIENDS will be friends, right till the end,’ Donald Tusk said yesterday, quoting Freddie Mercury 27 years after the Queen frontman’s death.
The message from the European Council president and all EU leaders was clear: ‘The UK remains our ally no matter what.’
But if the next round of negotiations are anything like the bruising experience of the last 18 months, plenty may have their doubts.
Although everyone was under pressure to secure a deal, no-one was in the mood to celebrate when it was finally reached.
Despite the difficulties of Brexit, recent European Council summits of member state heads of government have remained surprisingly upbeat. Not so yesterday, with everyone rather resigned to the feeling that it’s all downhill from here.
‘Sombre’, ‘sad’, ‘a tragedy’ were just some of the words thrown around by European leaders as Theresa May pitched directly to her citizens, relentlessly repeating ‘what the British people want’.
Alas the UK wants to break free, the EU thinks they’re going slightly mad.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said: ‘This is the best deal… the only deal possible.’ And it’s one that leaves everyone worse off than they were before.
Mr Varadkar said: ‘I’ve always thought the best outcome for Ireland and for Europe and indeed the United Kingdom would be for the UK to stay in the European Union, the customs union and the single market, but we respect the decision of the British people and the UK parliament not to do that.’
On arrival yesterday, European leaders stuck to the script: This is the only deal on the table and it’s either this, or no deal.
Only last week Mr Varadkar had said that if there were no deal, a new agreement on the border would have to made with the UK. But yesterday he wouldn’t even consider such a scenario as now, apparently, there is no such alternative. It’s a kind of magic. Or perhaps a U-turn. Or maybe it’s just bluster to try to shove the deal over the line.
Ultimately British prime minister Theresa May has united with the EU to send a message to MPs who have no faith in the agreement she worked so hard for: forget the People’s Vote, forget a UK election, forget renegotiation, it’s this deal, or no deal.
When MPs vote next month they will be told they can accept Brexit on these terms or wait for the hammer to fall.