A Brexit bust-up
What hope for a deal?
A war of words broke out between UK and EU officials last week after the third round of Brexit talks. In a press conference with the Brexit Secretary David Davis, the EU’S chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned that the UK’S approach was unrealistic and nostalgic, and said there had been no “decisive progress”. Davis insisted progress had been made, and said Barnier should not “confuse a belief in the free market with nostalgia”. Barnier later said it was his job to “educate” the UK about the price of leaving the EU “club”. Davis in turn accused the EU of trying to play “money against time”, insisting the UK would not be bounced into agreeing an exit bill. Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, suggested that Brussels was trying to “blackmail” the UK.
Labour, meanwhile, threatened to derail Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal Bill, which transposes EU law into UK law, over fears that it hands too much power to the executive. A key vote on the Bill is due to take place on Monday.
What the editorials said
“Some things live up to low expectations,” said The Sunday Times. Little was expected of last week’s Brexit talks, and “little was achieved”. The lack of progress is alarming, said The Independent. The Irish border issue; the “divorce bill”; the rights of EU and UK citizens – none of these issues is close to being resolved. The British side is right about at least one thing: the pace of talks needs to be stepped up. “A monthly press conference where Davis and Barnier politely abuse each other is not the answer to this crisis.” The “obstructive approach” of Barnier and his team is chiefly to blame, said The Spectator, but EU commercial interests won’t tolerate his “blocking tactics” forever. The UK should “call Barnier’s bluff” by making contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.
Eurosceptics have long made a fetish of parliamentary supremacy, said The Guardian. So it’s ironic that May’s repeal bill is now trampling on that concept by granting ministers the right, under so-called Henry VIII powers, to make big changes to legislation without parliamentary scrutiny. MPS must amend the law to protect the “checks and balances that uphold British democracy”.