BRUSSELS BLASTED
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab hits out at EU for having ‘no coherent’ explanation for why they rebuffed Chequers
THE BREXIT Secretary has hit out at EU for having “no coherent explanation” for why they rebuffed Theresa May’s Chequers plan.
Dominic Raab said they have chosen to mess with the “wrong Prime Minister” as she prepared to deliver a statement in response to being ambushed in Salzburg yesterday.
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The minister also blasted Donald Tusk for his mocking social media post, saying the Brussels boss was not acting “statesmanlike”.
The EU Council leader had published on Instagram a picture of himself offering Mrs May some cake, with the caption “sorry, no cherries”.
This was a reference to claims the PM is asking in the negotiations for something which cannot be offered, but sparked fury among Brexiteers.
It led Mr Raab to suggest there is a "serious question mark" about whether the EU is taking the talks seriously, adding there was a “computer says no” attitude from them.
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His comments come after a pro-EU former Cabinet minister said the way the leaders “belittled” Mrs May is driving even Remainers to accept a “no deal” Brexit.
Stephen Crabb says the way they “sought to put down the Prime Minister yesterday” will push Brits to think “the quicker we're out of this circus, the better”.
The ex-Work and Pensions Secretary said it“represented everything that is bad and unattractive about the EU”.
And he said Mrs May “can't back down”, and the “spectacle” in Austria left his fellow Remainers “feeling the quicker we’re out of this the better”.
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But Mr Crabb said the PM must not panic, saying: “One of the outcomes the EU leaders wanted from yesterday was for Britain to go away, push the panic button and re-think.
“But the Prime Minister needs to stick to her guns.
"I actually think the Chequers proposal is not perfect but broadly represents the kind of compromising package that protects Britain's industrial base, that protects agriculture and represents a positive position to take into the negotiations."
The Pembrokeshire MP took aim at the EU leaders, saying: "The manner in which they did it yesterday took many of us by surprise.
"The problem with the position the EU took yesterday is it pushes people like me further into the camp of those who say to me, as they were doing last night, ‘look, Stephen, we told you so. There is no compromise or flexibility to be found on the EU side’."
Angry Theresa May fires back at EU leaders after they claim Chequers Brexit plan 'will NOT work'
Mr Crabb added: "It pushes us more into a position where we say the quicker we are out of this circus the better."
Asked if he was no moving more towards to the hard-Brexit group the ERG, who want to ditch Chequers, he said: “We come away having seen what happened yesterday, having more sympathy for the kind of language that they’ve been speaking.”
His thoughts were echoed by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who said the EU leaders had “got personal”.
Speaking to the Guardian he said: “Monsieur Macron is not only out of order, he's completely wrong.
“The EU is doing their classic case of trying to bully the UK in a variety of ways into taking a different position.”
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It comes after the French President described leaders of the Brexit campaign who told British voters it would be easy to get a deal after we left as "liars".
At the summit the European Commission tried to get Mrs May to accept a backstop proposal for Northern Ireland to remain within the EU customs area after Brexit.
But the PM flatly rejected it, arguing this would draw a border down the Irish Sea, and today one of her Cabinet ministers said there are no changes "on the table at the moment".
Leave-backing Transport Secretary Chris Grayling insisted Britain is "preparing hard" for a no-deal Brexit, although he predicted a "sensible agreement" will be reached with Brussels.
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And another member of the Cabinet, James Brokenshire, has insisted it's Chequers or no deal, calling it a “workable, credible deal to meet our ambitions”.
The Housing Secretary told BBC Radio 4: "The easy thing for the Prime Minister to do would be to go with one of those two options that are being proffered.
"EEA, which does not deliver on what the people voted for in the EU referendum on freedom of movement, or Canada, which would effectively break up the UK.”
He added: “They have said that it's about the integrity of the single market and we believe the Chequers deal responds to that, and it's for the EU to engage with what's on the table."
France’s Emmanuel Macron launches extraordinary attack on Brexiteers and calls them ‘liars’
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