Arriving in Brussels for fresh talks the PM stunned onlookers by saying to Mr Juncker: 'What did you call me? You called me nebulous, yes you did' and he reportedly replied: 'What? No I didn’t'
RAGING Theresa May let rip at Jean-Claude Juncker — after he infuriated Britain by grabbing her and calling her plans “nebulous”.
The Prime Minister confronted the EU Commission President after he tore into the UK over its Brexit negotiating strategy at a crunch summit in Brussels.
Arriving for fresh talks the PM stunned onlookers by saying to Mr Juncker: “What did you call me? You called me nebulous, yes you did.”
Lip-readers claimed he replied: “What? No I didn’t, no I didn’t.”
Within hours he was forced into a grovelling retreat after being accused of deepening the divide with Britain.
Challenged at a press conference he admitted the confrontation and joked that the pair “weren’t dancing”.
He insisted he was referring to Britain’s vague negotiating stance and that he had the greatest respect for the PM.
Yet in bizarre comments he then boasted: “In the course of the morning after having checked what I said yesterday night, she was kissing me.”
Later Mr Juncker was seen at the summit lunging at and inappropriately grabbing the hair of a female official.
EU Council chief Donald Tusk’s team were said to be furious with Mr Juncker — who sparked the uproar on Thursday by branding the PM’s demands “nebulous and imprecise”. It means vague, hazy and uncertain.
Mr Tusk insisted EU leaders had treated her with the greatest respect despite yet another stand-off over the PM’s deal and the hated backstop.
And, with a nod to the PM’s humiliating no-confidence vote this week, Mr Tusk said the EU was far kinder to the PM than “some British MPs”.
Mrs May would only say she had a “robust” exchange with Mr Juncker and said Britain’s position was “crystal clear”.
But the row deepened the growing sense of chaos around Britain’s Brexit planning with just over 100 days to go until we leave the EU.
IT should now be obvious to Theresa May that the EU will not give her what she needs. It is time to end her repeated humiliations and take another course.
Why should the Prime Minister of our great country suffer further abuse at the clammy hands of the shambling, brandy-soaked buffoon Jean-Claude Juncker?
Or playground taunts from the pipsqueak president of little Lithuania over our perceived Brexit indecision? This is the thanks we get for sending British troops to risk their lives defending the Baltic states from Russian aggression.
This latest summit charade was not, in fact, wrecked by Mrs May’s vagueness. As other leaders said, she was very specific about the legally binding text she needed to convince the DUP and her backbenchers to approve the deal.
The two-day meeting was actually scuppered by an agreement suddenly being trashed by Ireland and France.
Do they have any inkling how much goodwill between our nations they have destroyed with their parlour games over the past 2½ years? How many once pro-EU Brits they convert into Leavers with every new salvo?
Do they not grasp how mistrustful, obstructive and even hostile we would become as an EU member if, God forbid, Remain won a second referendum?
Senior Cabinet ministers including Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are rightly imploring Mrs May to focus every effort on No Deal preparations. A “managed No Deal” to soften the impact after March 29 looks a decent idea to us.
The Sun always wanted a deal. It’s not going to happen. The EU has other ideas.
And a second referendum, or “Norway Plus”, both amount to craven surrenders to this bloated organisation which apparently relishes belittling Britain.
We must get out.
Tory Eurosceptic Simon Clarke said: “This is just further evidence of the broken negotiations. And in large part this is the fault of the blundering fool who sums up the failings of the EU.”
Another Tory said the PM’s reaction would do wonders for her reputation. He added: “I was walking down the high street earlier and a bloke said ‘Tell her to kick him in the balls for me’.”
Mr Juncker has been dogged for years by rumours of heavy boozing. Last year he was branded embarrassing after appearing “very visibly drunk” at a UN summit in Geneva.
This latest spat came as Mrs May desperately tried to convince MPs she had made progress at the summit in persuading EU leaders to give Britain concessions on her PM deal.
Tory chiefs pulled the deal from a Commons vote on Tuesday amid fears of a thumping defeat.
EU leaders on Thursday scrapped promises to compromise on the post-Brexit backstop — which could tie the UK to EU customs rules indefinitely.
Sources claimed EU leaders pulled the plug on concessions after the PM admitted they may not be enough to win the support of Parliament. But at her own press conference yesterday, a defiant Mrs May insisted it was still possible to get the assurances MPs need — such as time-limiting the backstop.
She said: “There is work to be done. It is clear we can look at this issue of further clarification.”
But legal experts yesterday said her claims the official conclusions had “legal status” were wrong.
Labour said it was clear her deal was now “dead in the water”.
THERESA MAY finally scored a Brexit win last night – as SWITZERLAND agreed to roll over a trade deal with Britain when we leave the EU.
The Swiss government voted to ensure seamless trade ties with the UK – currently based on our EU membership – continue.
It also opens the door to more talks on developing bilateral ties in the future.The move means the Swiss will “replicate in substance the vast majority of trade agreements” in force with the UK, even in a No Deal.
It’s the first of FORTY trade deals Britain currently holds through the EU that it hopes to roll-over.Britain exports around £19 billion a year to Switzerland – from jewellery to precious stones and pharmaceuticals.
Exports have grown by 40 per cent over the past 5 years. Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: “This is the first of around 40 trade agreements that we will provide continuity for and many other agreements are also close to being agreed.
“It is a vital part of our no deal planning and it means that businesses and consumers can continue to benefit from our close trading relationships with the world beyond the European Union.”
Former Tory minister Nick Boles said it was now time for the PM to include Jeremy Corbyn and other parties in her Brexit plan.
DUP leader Arlene Foster urged the PM to “stand up to” the EU and not “roll over” like before.
And ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the EU would give ground only when the PM threatens to walk away. He added: “At the weakest of moments, the best leaders always stand up.”
