EU turns nasty as UK urged to leave quickly

BRITAIN’S departure from the eU turned nasty yesterday as furious european leaders ordered the UK to leave ‘as soon as possible’.

One French minister even demanded that David Cameron be replaced within days in a bid to railroad the UK into potentially punitive exit negotiations.

The British prime minister will also be shut out of this week’s key summit on the impact of Brexit, as the stark reality of Britain’s diminished status became clear.

As messages from the Continent hardened, Britain’s eU commissioner lord Hill of Oareford, was forced to step down, while the future looked bleak for the estimated 1,500 Britons working in

‘It was not an intimate love affair anyway’

Brussels institutions. Mr Cameron wants negotiations on the UK’s exit to begin once he leaves Downing Street by the start of October.

But French foreign minister JeanMarc Ayrault yesterday tried to hurry along a Conservative leadership battle, saying: ‘A new prime minister must be designated. That will take a few days. We have to give a new sense to europe, otherwise populism will fill the gap.’

At a gathering of leaders of the eU’s founding states in Germany yesterday, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also told Britain to act quickly and trigger Article 50 of the lisbon Treaty to extract itself from the bloc.

‘This process must begin as soon as possible so we don’t end up in an extended limbo period but rather can focus on the future of europe,’ he added. All six ministers at the meeting added in a joint statement: ‘We expect the UK government to provide clarity and give effect to this decision as soon as possible.’

eU Commission president JeanClaude Juncker said on Friday: ‘It is not an amicable divorce but it was not an intimate love affair anyway. I do not understand why the British government needs until October to decide whether to send the divorce letter to Brussels. I’d like it immediately.’

French president Francois Hollande added: ‘It will be painful for Britain but… like in all divorces, it will be painful for those who stay behind too.’ Only German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed that there was no rush, saying: ‘It should not take ages… but I would not fight for a short time-frame.’

She added the eU has ‘no need to be particularly nasty’ in the negotiations, which ‘must take place in a businesslike, good climate’.

eU leaders are desperate to avoid a domino effect of other countries following Britain’s lead and think they can do this by preventing the UK winning generous access to the single market when it leaves.

A secret Brexit plan drawn up by Germany said the eU ‘should refrain from setting wrong incentives for other member states when renegotiating relations’.

France, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and Hungary may also want to leave, according to the report, which claims: ‘The extent of the knock-on effect will depend on the handling of the UK.’

Slovakia’s far-right People’s Party has already launched a petition for a referendum on the country’s eU membership.

However there will likely be a difficult atmosphere at the first postreferendum summit this week.

european Council president Donald Tusk will convene a meeting of the 28-state bloc on Tuesday, but Mr Cameron will be excluded from the second day of talks when the impact of Brexit will be discussed.

Despite Brexit, next year Britain will still have to take control of the european Union at the same time as the new government is trying to negotiate a way out of it.

The UK will hold the ‘rotating presidency’ of the eU for six months between July and December 2017. Only if there is unanimous agreement from all member states, including itself, can Britain avoid taking on the role.