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.@Jeremy_Hunt on Today reinforces message of @theresa_may that if she loses vote it will be EU’s fault: he warns EU leaders to take care the impasse “doesn’t inject poison into our relations for many years to come” and warns that if EU doesn’t make...
further backstop concessions “people will say the EU got this moment wrong”. This is a million miles from how EU leaders see the state of negotiations. According to source they believe “EU has already made its choice to be as helpful as possible on giving legally binding
reassurances that the backstop will apply only for as long as necessary”.
It has “submitted various ideas to the UK’s attention this week to clarify issues and reinforce mechanisms to give reassurances that the UK-requested single customs territory or the backstop...
It has “submitted various ideas to the UK’s attention this week to clarify issues and reinforce mechanisms to give reassurances that the UK-requested single customs territory or the backstop...
“more generally is not ‘a trap’ but such reassurances are always consistent with the agreed Withdrawal Agreement”.
The EU “also offered ideas for how to work on alternative arrangements during transition. And signalled a willingness to rework the Political Declaration”...
The EU “also offered ideas for how to work on alternative arrangements during transition. And signalled a willingness to rework the Political Declaration”...
To translate this, the EU sees itself not as intransigent but as being as flexible as it can be, subject to not opening the Withdrawal Agreement, to get the deal over the line, including changing the parameters of the Political Declaration on the future relationship...
to make it more attractive to MPs in all parties. So EU leaders would argue intransigence is on the side of @theresa_may and @Geoffrey_Cox. But as I said last night they won’t respond well to the PM playing the blame game, especially before her latest moment of truth.
And in response to what I’ve just written, a member of the cabinet tells me - of EU negotiators - “when we are clear what’s needed to get this over the line, if they choose not to give that, they are choosing to fail”. So there you have it, nutshelled. The PM is now dug in...
to a trench that says it is the EU that wishes to blow up Brexit by not doing as she says. But the EU would argue that 1) they don’t really know what the PM wants and 2) even if they did they are not persuaded she is right that their capitulation would in fact...
see her deal ratified by MPs on Tuesday. There we have it: Brexit deal, PM, government all in that Italian-Job bus, hanging over the cliff edge.
