EU chiefs are obstructing talks and ‘giving us the run around’ says former Tory leader as he urges other leaders to step in
William Hague slammed Michel Barnier and his team for lacking flexibility and trying to stall talks
EU chiefs are deliberately obstructing talks and giving Britain "the run around", a former Tory leader has said.
William Hague slammed the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and his team for lacking flexibility and trying to stall talks.
Lord Hague that only Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron can step in to help with the impasse now.
He said that the EU's strategy of trying to conduct talks only through the official team was giving "Britain the run around and increasing pressure on the Government".
And he said that the time will come where governments will have to make "serious interventions" if the talks are going to reach a deal in their interests.
Lord Hague continued: "The danger is that the EU itself will go round in circles with no one taking the responsibility for pushing things forward."
Yesterday France signalled it wants to get started on trade talks with the UK as soon as next month, which could speed things up.
And German businesses have backed Mr Davis' call for a Brexit that works for both Britain and the EU.
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The former Tory boss said recent position papers on Brexit were welcome - but stressed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to "solve the issues the EU had said must be addressed without first talking about what the overall agreement is going to look like".
The EU has repeatedly said that "significant progress" has to be made on the issues of citizens rights, the Northern Ireland border issue and our divorce bill.
But David Davis has stressed that it is becoming impossible to make progress here without talking about our future relationship - including a trade deal.
Lord Hague's damning comments come as Mr Davis gears up for a second day of talks in Brussels today.
Yesterday the Brexit Secretary rebuked a grumpy Mr Barnier as he insisted a trade deal had to be talked about this week.
In the tensest of talk sessions yet, the pair clashed over progress and blamed the other for stalling.
Mr Barnier slammed Mr Davis for not saying how much Britain would pay to leave, but Mr Davis said we needed to talk about "all the issues", not just the money.
Government sources close to the negotiations blasted Mr Barnier for “ill-judged and ill-considered comments” that were “unhelpful for the next round of negotiations”.
