Section:GDN 1N PaGe:10 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 20:57 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Wednesday 7 August 2019
(^10) National
Politics
Gove accuses ‘wrong and
sad’ EU of refusing to
negotiate new Brexit deal
Peter Walker
Political correspondent
Michael Gove has accused the EU of
intransigence over Brexit talks, call-
ing it “wrong and sad”, as divisions
between the UK and Brussels became
further entrenched with No 10 seem-
ingly intent on a no-deal departure.
Gove, who is in personal charge of
no-deal preparations, reiterated Boris
Johnson’s position that the only route
to progress would be the EU starting
again with withdrawal negotiations,
something Brussels has ruled out.
Adding to the impression of John -
son’s hardening position, newly
released read-outs of his phone calls
with a series of EU leaders over recent
days showed he delivered the same
uncompromising message to them.
While the Irish taoiseach , Leo
Varadkar, insisted yesterday that
no-deal was not inevitable, both he
and Ireland’s fi nance minister, Paschal
Donohoe , warned of a signifi cant and
long-term change to relations between
the countries if it happened.
Downing Street has increasingly
pushed the message that Brexit will
inevitably happen on 31 October ,
even intimating that the mandate of
the 2016 Brexit referendum is viewed
inside No 10 as overruling parliament.
There is growing worry that John-
son could try to force through no deal
against the will of MPs, with his de
facto chief of staff , Dominic Cum-
mings, reportedly threatening No 10
staff with the sack if they dissent. The
government’s offi cial position is still
that it is seeking a formalised depar-
ture, albeit only if Brussels ditches the
backstop border insurance policy and
reopens the withdrawal agreement.
While the terms of the Brexit
extension made it plain neither could
happen, Gove pushed the govern-
ment’s view that if there is no deal it
will be due to EU intransigence.
“We need a new approach and we
stand ready to engage with the Euro-
pean Union, to negotiate in good
faith to make sure that we can have a
friendly relationship in the future,” he
said. “We will put all our energy into
making sure we can secure that good
deal but at the moment it is the EU that
seems to be saying they are not inter-
ested. They are simply saying: ‘No, we
don’t want to talk.’ I think that is wrong
and sad. It is not in Europe’s interests.”
The offi cial records of Johnson’s
calls with EU leaders were similarly
robust. In calls with Jean-Claude
Juncker, the European commission
president, the German chancellor,
Angela Merkel, and the Swedish PM,
Stefan Löfven, Johnson said Theresa
May’s old withdrawal agreement must
go. To Juncker and Löfven, the pre-
cis showed Johnson referred to “the
anti-democratic backstop”, No 10’s
new chosen form of words for a policy
negotiated jointly by the UK and EU.
Varadkar said he still held out hopes
of an agreement. “I don’t accept it’s
unavoidable,” he said of no deal.
“There are many ways by which a
no-deal can be avoided. Either by
the ratifi cation of the w ithdrawal
a greement, a further extension or
revocation of article 50. So, there are
a number of ways that a no-deal can
be avoided on 31 of October. I am cer-
tainly not fatalistic about that.”
He warned, however, that no deal
would merely mark the start of new
negotiations , on every thing from
citizens’ rights to the “divorce” settle-
ment and the Irish border. He said: “So,
▼ Michael Gove, chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, arrives for a
meeting in Downing Street yesterday
PHOTOGRAPH: LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
Brexit isn’t a storm that we weather ...
it is a permanent change in relations
between the European Union, includ-
ing Ireland, and the United Kingdom. I
think that needs to be borne in mind.”
Donohoe was more blunt still fol-
lowing a meeting in London with the
chancellor, Sajid Javid, warning that
the relationship between the UK and
Ireland nations would “fundamentally
change” in the event of no deal.
“If the United Kingdom became
a third country it would have a fun-
damental eff ect on the nature of the
economic relationship between the U K
and Ireland because, obviously, they
would be outside the single market,
they would be outside the customs
unions and they would be treated like
other countries that are outside of the
European Union from a trading point
of view,” he said. “Were that to happen
- which it would in the event of a no-
deal Brexit – it would fundamentally
change the relationship that is there.”
The Guardian reported on Monday
that Brussels diplomats briefed on a
meeting between senior EU fi gures
and Johnson’s chief envoy had been
told a no-deal Brexit wa s the UK’s “cen-
tral scenario” and that No 10 would not
countenance backstop discussions.
One EU diplomat said: “It was clear
that the UK does not have another
plan. No intention to negotiate, which
would require a plan.”
Journal Leader comment Page 2 ‘We will put all our
energ y into trying to
secure a good deal
but ... the EU seems
to be saying they
are not interested’Michael Gove
Cabinet Offi ce ministerРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS