BREXIT Secretary Dominic Raab has said he is “confident that a deal is within our sights” in an appearance before peers.
He made the comments after EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, told reporters in Berlin after a meeting with German foreign minister Heiko Maas: “We are prepared to offer Britain a partnership such as there never has been with any other third country.”
Raab answered questions for almost two hours from members of the Lords EU Committee. He claimed he had quickly established a “good professional and personal rapport” with the Barnier after succeeding David Davis last month.
Raab told the Lords committee he would be in Brussels today ahead of meetings on Friday and added: “I’m confident a deal is within our sights. We’re bringing ambition, pragmatism, energy and if, and I expect it will be, and if it is matched, we get a deal.
“I think it is important as we enter the final phase of the negotiations in the lead up to the October council and the possibility that it may creep beyond that, we want to see some renewed energy.
“We’re bringing the ambition and the substance of our White Paper on the future relationship and also I think some pragmatism to try and go the extra mile to get the deal that I think is in both sides’ interests. We need that to be matched obviously, it’s a negotiation.”
Raab struck a bullish tone in his exchanges with peers, who aired concerns and sought greater detail on issues including the Northern Ireland border issue, the proposed new customs arrangement, the current state of talks and preparations for a no-deal scenario.
Echoing comments made by Prime Minister Theresa May, Raab said of the latter possibility: “It wouldn’t be a walk in the park but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. My focus, as I hope you will see, is overridingly on intensifying the negotiations because we want a strong deal, because we want a good outcome ... so really with the no-deal scenario, as difficult as it is to anticipate what precisely could be the trigger for it, there’s a range of possibilities and we’ll be ready for all of them.”
On the Northern Ireland border, Raab said: “What I can say is we’re both committed to a solution and there is a lot of interesting, innovative technical work to make sure we resolve it. We’re not going to see a customs border drawn down the Irish Sea. We’re not going to do anything which would imperil the Belfast Agreement.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel