Britain is now a small country, taunts Irish PM

LEO Varadkar taunted Britain last night – saying it has become a ‘small country’ as it presses ahead with Brexit.

The Irish leader said the EU would have the ‘upper hand’ in post-Brexit trade talks, which formally begin after Britain leaves on Friday.

He warned the bloc would try to force big concessions on fishing rights for EU trawlers by exploiting Britain’s ‘weak position’ on access to Europe’s financial markets.

Speaking in Dublin about the trade talks, Mr Varadkar told the BBC: ‘I think the reality of the situation is that the European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country.

‘And we have a population and a market of 450million people. The UK, it’s about 60 [million]. So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team?’

His comments sparked fury from Brexiteers. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘The UK has the equivalent GDP of 18 of the EU’s smallest 27 countries; is the biggest export destination for the EU; the fifth largest export destination in the world; has the third most potent defence forces in the world... Small? Not really. The EU will be much smaller without the UK and our money.’

Mr Varadkar admitted Britain was in a ‘very strong position’ on fishing waters, which Mr Johnson has vowed to fully reclaim after Brexit.

But the Irish prime minister warned the bloc could downgrade the City of London’s access to financial markets to bounce the UK into allowing EU trawlers in its waters.

He said: ‘If financial services and entertainment... are cut off from the single market, the European market, that will be a very severe blow to the British economy. So, you may have to make concessions in areas like fishing.’

Trawlers from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Germany and Spain rely on access to UK waters and their fishing industries could collapse if it is withdrawn completely. EU diplomats say the bloc is ready to play hardball over the issue.

Mr Varadkar’s comments came as internal negotiating documents seen by the Mail revealed Brussels will demand that existing fishing rights for EU trawlers are continued after Brexit.

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We are going to be taking back control of our own fishing waters. The EU should be in no doubt about our determination on that issue.’

The leaked documents also reveal demands for the European Court of Justice to have jurisdiction over trade disputes to ‘ensure consistent interpretation of the agreement’. Underlining that Brussels will order Britain to stay

‘EU is ready to play hardball’

aligned to its rules and regulations as part of a trade deal, Mr Varadkar added: ‘There’s a genuine concern across the European Union, that part of the motivation behind Brexit was for the UK to undercut us in terms of environmental standards, labour standards, product standards, food standards, all of those things.’

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will lose his job on Friday night when Britain leaves the EU, it emerged last night.

A source said it has always been clear that the post was a ‘time-limited job’.