THERESA May put a brave face on her disastrous election result yesterday, insisting the UK’s Brexit negotiating position was “as good as it was” before she threw away her slim majority in the Commons.
The Prime Minister called the snap election because she wanted voters to “strengthen her hand” in the EU talks.
Speaking to LBC, May insisted voters not strengthening her hand, had no real impact on the talks.
“I think the UK’s negotiating position is as good as it was precisely because this is not just about the UK’s position, it’s about the interests of the EU as well,” she said. “If you look at the issue of co-operation on security matters, if you look at the issue of trade agreement with the European Union, this isn’t just about what’s going to be good for the UK.
“I’m fighting for what’s good for the UK, but I think what’s good for us is also good for the EU and I think that’s why this is a negotiation of two sides, coming together to find a way through a process that hasn’t been used before, of a country leaving the European Union but doing it in a way that retains that co-operation, retains that partnership, because we’re not leaving Europe, we’re leaving the EU.”
May’s Brexit minister David Davis and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will hold a press conference today after the second week of talks.
Reports yesterday suggested there had been little movement over the so-called divorce bill.
UK officials have suggested the EU has not set out in detail what it thinks Britain’s legal obligations are, while Brussels are saying Britain needed to be clearer about how much it thinks it’s due.
Meanwhile, European Commission sources also confirmed yesterday that its Brexit team’s offices are protected by fingerprint scanners in a bid to make it difficult for British to spy. According to the Telegraph, Brussels, is believed to be an espionage hotspot, with the EU, its 28 member states and Nato all having a significant presence in the Belgian capital.
In other Brexit news, the demand for Irish passports in the UK has jumped by 50 per cent since last June’s vote, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs and trade has revealed.
More than 100,000 Irish passports, which can be claimed by anyone with an Irish parent or grandparent, were issued in the UK in the first six months of 2017, up from 65,000.
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