Daily Express - 07.08.2019

Daily Express Wednesday, August 7, 2019 5

DX1ST

FOR BREXIT

Pictures: JONATHAN BUCKMASTER, EMPICS

By Michael Knowles

Home Affairs Correspondent

come from the British side. She said:

“As President Juncker told UK

Prime Minister Johnson, the

Commission does remain available

over the coming weeks should the

United Kingdom wish to hold talks

and clarify its position in more

detail, whether by phone or in

person.”

But she repeated that while a

“no-deal scenario is not our pre-

ferred option”, the agreement

reached was the “best possible” and

cannot be reopened.

And she said the EU was not afraid

of Britain leaving without a deal.

“Our no-deal preparedness pro-

tects the EU 27 and their interests

in the case of a no-deal Brexit,”

she said.

Mr Johnson held his first talks

in Downing Street with an EU leader

since becoming Prime Minister,

hosting his Estonian counterpart Juri

Ratas.

It is thought unlikely that Mr

Johnson will meet other premiers

from the bloc until a G7 summit in

France later this month.

OPINION: PAGE 12

Public support... Priti Patel

THE public overwhelmingly want criminals

to feel “terror”, a poll revealed yesterday.

It found 72 per cent of those questioned

agree with Home Secretary Priti Patel, who

laid down a zero tolerance approach to

crime at the weekend.

She said: “Offenders should be fearful of

committing any criminal activities on our

streets. With greater police presence I want

them to literally feel terror at the thought of

committing offences.”

The Home Secretary’s comments drew

criticism from Labour and the Liberal

Democrats, who claimed she was “out of

touch”. But the new survey asked 3,

people: “Generally speaking, would you

want criminals

to feel terror at

the thought of

committing

offences, or

not?”

Just 11 per

cent said they

would not while

72 per cent said

they would, a

figure rising to

81 per cent of

people aged

over 65.

Pollsters

YouGov said the

results showed

“overwhelming support” for Ms Patel.

The Home Secretary pledged to clamp

down on violent crime after Prime Minister

Boris Johnson committed to recruiting

20,000 more police officers.

She said ministers want to “empower”

officers to stop criminality.

Ms Patel pledged: “I’ve always felt the

Conservative Party is the party of the police

and police officers.

“My focus is restating our commitment to

law and order and to the people on the

frontline, the police.

“The defence of our nation, defence of

our streets and law and order are at the

heart of our values.”

Why Britons

support Priti’s

blitz on crooks

BRITAIN will have a trade deal up and

running with the United States within

months of leaving the EU, a Republican

senator has claimed.

Tom Cotton insisted the UK will be at

the “front of the queue” for a preferential

trading agreement “given everything our

nations have gone through together”.

“Obviously, it wouldn’t be a matter of

days or weeks for such negotiations, it

might be months, but I would suspect it

would be months, not years,” added

Winston Churchill fan Mr Cotton.

The pledge comes as former US treasury

secretary Larry Summers said it was

“delusional” for Britain to expect a

favourable trade deal with the US.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is

currently touring North America to “fire

up” transatlantic business relations.

US pact ‘can be

sealed in months’

COMMENT

PAUL SCULLY

Conservative Party deputy chairman

Boris Johnson

welcomes

Estonian Prime

Minister Juri

Ratas to No 10

yesterday

IT is now more than three years since

the British people voted to leave the

European Union, in the greatest

democratic exercise in our nation’s

history.

The people rightly expect, and our

democracy demands, that politicians

deliver on the clear instruction we were

given.

Three years down the line, it is simply

not good enough that we have failed to

do so.

With a new Prime Minister and a fresh

approach, we have the new-found

energy, vision and leadership needed to

break the Brexit impasse.

Boris Johnson has made it clear he is

ready to throw himself into renewed

negotiations with the EU with the

determination and focus required to get

the best Brexit deal for our country,

one without the failed backstop.

Which is why it is particularly

disappointing that at this

point, the EU is refusing to

negotiate with us.

We want to negotiate a new

deal and in the spirit of

friendship we had hoped that

the EU would be willing to do

the same.

But it continues to state that

it, point blank, refuses to

make any changes to

the Withdrawal Agreement. This is an

agreement that has been rejected by

Parliament – not once, not twice but

three times.

It is clear that it cannot pass in its

current form and we must abolish the

anti-democratic backstop if we want to

make progress.

So if the EU wants a deal it needs to

be pragmatic and change its stance.

It is profoundly disappointing that the

EU appears unwilling to compromise

and work with us to achieve a new deal.

But our position is clear – we will

leave the EU on October 31 with

or without a deal, come what

may.

Of course, we would prefer to

leave the EU with a great new

deal.

But we will continue with our

preparation, so we are ready to

leave in all circumstances.

In the meantime, we stand

ready when the EU decides it

can meet us half-way.

Talks

РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS