Brexit web tangled by spats over specifics

Britain’s progress towards life outside the European Union became more entangled yesterday, with divisions deepening over Northern Ireland’s border and even the type of divorce Britain actually wants.

It came as the EU’s top negotiator warned that formal talks are set to be delayed, eating up more of the two-year divorce timetable.

Negotiations on the future relationship between Britain and the European Union are now less likely to start in October due to a lack of progress at the initial stage of talks about the break-up, Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has told EU ambassadors.

Britain responded that it was confident that enough progress could be made to start the second stage of talks but as Prime Minister Theresa May holidayed in Italy, her ministers engaged in a public debate about how Brexit should look.

Avoiding a cliff-edge

Finance minister Philip Hammond, who opposed leaving the EU in last year’s referendum and has one eye on the business community, said there should be no immediate change to immigration or trading rules when Britain leaves.

A shift to new arrangements could last until mid2022, he said in a BBC radio interview, adding that he wanted to avoid a cliff-edge. He stressed that British hospitals and care homes relied as much on EU migrant workers as many businesses.

May expects what she calls an implementation phase but she has given few details of how it would look. Any such deal will also be subject to discussion with the other 27 EU members.

Hammond’s tone, meanwhile, is sharply different than that of some other senior ministers in May’s cabinet who want a cleaner break with the EU including swift controls on immigration.

It was unclear whether Hammond’s proposals would become government policy though the implications could be far reaching.