END OF BREXIT?
Gloating Eurocrats say resignation of Boris and Davis could spell the end of Brexit as they mock Theresa May
GLOATING Brussels bosses have suggested David Davis and Boris Johnson's resignations could spell the end for Brexit as they mocked the stability of Theresa May's government.
The EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker stuck the boot in - observing the pair’s decision to quit “clearly proves that at Chequers there was a big unity of views in the British Cabinet”.
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And his EU Council counterpart Donald Tusk also weighed in to say "who knows" if the chaos will now see the UK’s historic vote to leave the bloc reversed.
He tweeted: “Politicians come and go but the problems they have created for people remain.
“I can only regret that the idea of #Brexit has not left with Davis and Johnson. But...who knows?”
Senior figures in Brussels have taken aim at Mr Davis for choosing to step away from the talks at such a crucial moment, saying they are like “rats leaving a sinking ship”.
Former Secretary of State David Davis says Boris Johnson shouldn't have quit as Foreign Secretary
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An EU diplomat saying: "The resignation will be framed as not taking responsibility for a soft Brexit but looks more like not taking responsibility at all.
“It is starting to look like the flight of the Brexiteers."
With suggestions other leading Eurosceptics in the Government could resign too, another diplomat said: "They [Brexiteers] landed your country in a mess and now they’re leaving for higher ground.
"Rats and sinking ships, that age old tale."
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But in a withering assessment of his role, several Brussels figures suggest it will not actually make any difference to the talks.
One diplomat told The Sun: "It's not going to lead to a substantial change in the Brexit negotiations because in the last couple of months David Davis wasn't any more the main negotiator, it was Olly Robbins.”
Another said: "The article 50 negotiation has so far taken up several hundreds of hours in negotiation. Of which minister Davis was here for four this year.
"His role has always been more defined in London. So that’s where they will have to look at the consequences. On this end we will just negotiate with whomever the UK government sends here to do so."
Boris Johnson leaves Foreign Secretary's residence after resigning from Theresa May's cabinet over Brexit
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But the EU Commission officially said it had "no specific comment" to make on Mr Davis's resignation, adding: "We'll continue to negotiate in good faith with PM May and the UK government.”
Brussels has also slammed Theresa May's “have cake and eat it” new Brexit plan with claims EU bosses will need her to water it down even more.
Mr Davis resigned saying the PM was pursuing a ";dangerous strategy" he could no longer support, after she finally got her Cabinet to sign off on a basis for talks with the EU.
And Mrs May faces a further headache after the Irish deputy PM says the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier will find it “difficult” to accept the proposal agreed at Chequers on Friday.
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This is because it will keep the UK tied to the EU’s rules but only on goods and agricultural products – and Mrs May has repeatedly been warned this approach is “cherry-picking” and will not be approved.
Mr Barnier said the discussions at Chequers, the PM’s country estate – are “to be welcomed”, but said he said needed to asses if they are “workable and realistic” ahead of discussions on July 16.
But he said he needed to see the full proposals in the Government’s long-await White Paper – expected this week. .
This was echoed by others in Brussels, with one diplomatic source telling the Daily Mail: “It’s about the White Paper at the moment. It’s important to wait for that detail. We can’t be sure about anything until we see it.
“But what is being said about goods still has a ‘have cake and eat it’ feeling. That will be the sticking point.
“The way it’s seen in relation to the single market is, you don’t just swallow one bit, you swallow all of it.”
Theresa May addresses the Commons following David Davis's and Boris Johnson's resignations from the Cabinet
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And Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy PM and minister for foreign affairs, said: “The EU has never been keen to facilitate a breaking up of an approach toward the single market in terms of keeping all of the elements of the single market intact and consistent, so I think Britain will find it difficult to persuade the EU to support the approach they’re now proposing.
“Michel Barnier will be a very, very strong defender of the EU interests here, in terms of protecting the integrity of the single market and the integrity of the EU customs union.”
And another diplomatic source was scathing of the plan, telling The Observer: “A goulash gets better the more it is recooked.
“I am not sure about whether the customs proposals share the same quality.”
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