Judge: UK ministers have no grasp of complexities at talks

A BRITISH judge used a meeting with Irish diplomats to savage the Government’s approach to Brexit negotiations, a leaked report has revealed.

The confidential remarks by Ian Forrester, QC, were featured in a document that provides a damning assessment of ministers who he accused of having no ‘grasp’ of the complexities involved in the split with Brussels.

The judge – Britain’s representative to the European Court of Justice for two years – earmarked ‘issues around the quality of politicians in Westminster’ as one of the biggest threats to talks.

The views, contained in a report compiled by Ireland’s department of foreign affairs, will infuriate Downing Street.

Ending the jurisdiction of the Luxembourg court in the UK is one of Theresa May’s negotiating ‘red lines’. In comments one MP branded ‘absurd’, the judge – due to step down in 2019 – said he hoped it ‘would gradually dawn on people what leaving actually entailed’.

The leak also showed his desire to see a situation whereby voters decided ‘that this was just a great mistake and the mood might swing back to remaining’.

During the discussions with unnamed Irish officials, Judge Forrester boasted of having a ‘fair amount’ of contact with the Government. However, he added: ‘Only one person out of all those who had been in contact had any real grasp of the complexities involved.’

Questions will be raised about the timing and provenance of the paper from Dublin, which has threatened to veto Brexit trade talks in a push for concessions from Mrs May.

The document, leaked to Irish broadcaster RTE, was drafted using reports obtained from Irish embassies between November and 10.

Latvian officials quoted in it said ‘the biggest problem [for talks] is the chaotic situation in the UK Government’.

A spokesman for Ireland’s department of foreign affairs said: ‘These routine reports are internal, confidential and not intended for the public domain.’

Tory MP Peter Bone, a leading Brexiteer, said Mr Forrester’s comments were ‘absurd and should be discounted’. He added: ‘This is typical of the European elite and their condescending attitude.’