Something fishy going on at No 10, Mr Barnier?
BREXIT talks are set to restart this morning amid hopes Brussels will back down in a row over fishing rights.
Access to UK waters after the transition period ends in December is one of the key stumbling blocks in striking a future trade deal.
Last week, discussions between the two sides broke up early with “significant differences” remaining.
But documents released yesterday revealed Eurocrat Michel Barnier has indicated that Brussels is willing to compromise.
Mr Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost met for a private dinner in Downing Street last night, dining on chargrilled asparagus, followed by a fillet of halibut and then a terrine of summer fruit.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that while talks scheduled for today are “informal”, discussions are likely to “cover everything from what the EU calls the level playing field through to governance structures”.
Mr Barnier said the EU is “doing everything to succeed” in reaching an agreement “but not at any price”.
Last month, in a virtual meeting, Mr Barnier told a House of Lords committee that there will be no trade agreement without a “balanced” agreement on fisheries.
He said: “If we both dig our heels in on those positions, there will be no discussion or agreement on fisheries and therefore no agreement on trade. That is not what we want.”
Without a deal the two sides would trade with each other underWorld Trade Organisation rules.
The difficulties come amid claims that opponents of Britain striking a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington were fuelling health scares about chlorinated chicken to derail talks.
Tory former cabinet minister Lord Lilley said: “Hasn’t this scare been concocted by anti-Americans who want to sabotage a potential UK-US trade deal?”
He was joined by fellow Tory peer Lord Dobbs, who put the public health “commotion” down to those “who have a political rather than a scientific objective”.