They’re liars: Macron attacks leaders of pro-Brexit campaign

EMMANUEL Macron last night branded the leaders of the UK’s pro-Brexit campaign ‘liars’ for telling voters it would be easy to leave the European Union.

The French president said the decision was ‘not without costs’ and ‘not without consequences’.

In a press conference in Salzburg, Mr Macron said: ‘Brexit is the choice of the British people and it is a choice pushed by certain people who predicted easy solutions.

‘Brexit has shown us one thing – and I fully respect British sovereignty in saying this – it has demonstrated that those who said you can easily do without Europe, that it will all go very well, that it is easy and there will be lots of money, are liars.

‘This is all the more true because they left the next day, so they didn’t have to manage it.’

Mr Macron said it was true Brexit negotiations had been complex and lengthy. But he added: ‘That fact must not be exploited by those very people who are the cause of this problem, who got us into the Brexit situation and who now tell us that Europe is going from crisis to crisis.

‘Brexit shows that it is not easy to leave the EU. It is not without costs. It is not without consequences.’ While progress was being made in negotiations, they were ‘not as simple as suggested by those who promised the British people the Earth at the time of the referendum’, Mr Macron said.

The French president’s claim that the leaders of the Brexit campaign ‘left the next day’ after the vote appeared to confuse them with David Cameron, who quit as prime minister after unsuccessfully calling on voters to back Remain.

By contrast, Brexit supporters David Davis, Boris Johnson and Liam Fox were brought into the Cabinet in the wake of the vote. Dr Fox, who is the International Trade Secretary, claimed last July: ‘The free trade agreement that we will have to do with the European Union should be one of the easiest in history.’

Mr Macron said of the Chequers deal that there was ‘ consensus’ among the EU27 that the UK’s proposals were ‘not acceptable’ in their current form, particularly in relation to the single market.

The plan could not be regarded as a ‘take it or leave it’ offer, said the French president, who said he was hoping that there would be ‘new British propositions’ on the table by the time of the October summit.

He said there must be ‘no blind deal’, under which a withdrawal agreement would be sealed without a clear outline of the future relationship.

Asked whether a bad deal was better than no deal, Mr Macron said: ‘I’m not the one to choose at this stage, but for sure we will never accept a deal which will damage Europe.

‘I respect the sovereignty of the British people, but I respect the sovereignty of the 27 other members. And they decided to join the European Union with its rules.

‘I’m here precisely to protect the interests of my citizens, but more broadly of this common project. So there is no blind deal – this is my answer.’

Earlier at the summit, Mr Macron emphasised the importance of protecting the single market in the Brexit negotiations. ‘We have very clear principles regarding the integrity of the single market,’ he said.

He said it was now up to the UK to come forward with proposals for a solution to the Irish border issue.

‘One of the easiest in history’