Brussels ‘must compromise’

BRUSSELS was told to compromise over the Irish border backstop or face being blamed for a No Deal Brexit.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the former EU Commission president, called for a ‘sense of perspective’ and said Brussels could end up on the ‘wrong side of the blame if things go wrong’.

Speaking in London yesterday Mr Barroso said: ‘There is still room for some renegotiation. While I fully understand the EU27 will not reopen the withdrawal agreement, I believe it is possible with some creativity and imagination to find some kind of compromise.

‘It’s far from certain but we should still try. The EU should try to avoid being on the wrong side of the blame game if things go wrong.

‘Everybody needs to move a little, that’s compromise. Where there is a political will, there is a political way,’ he added.

In Berlin today Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will warn that failure to reach a deal would be ‘deeply damaging, economically and politically’.