Donald Tusk: UK will decide if it wants a Brexit deal or not
2 min read
The UK will have the ultimate decision on whether it ends up with a “good deal, bad deal or no Brexit,” EU bigwig Donald Tusk has said.
The European Council president said the outcome of Brexit negotiations is “up to the UK” - after both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn accused the bloc of playing tough.
Meanwhile the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the UK could expect a future trade deal similar to that struck with Canada - although it could take years to negotiate.
The Prime Minister told Brussels “the ball is in your court” earlier this month and urged negotiators to show more “flexibility”, while the Labour leader last night accused the EU of “haggling”.
Polish former prime minister Mr Tusk today told MEPs Brexit was the “toughest stress test” for the bloc and urged member states to remain united or risk an existential crisis.
Addressing the European Parliament, he declared: "It's up to London how this will end: with a good deal, no deal or no Brexit."
"But in each of these scenarios we will protect our common interest by being together."
Mr Barnier told a reporters in Brussels: “From the moment the UK told us that it wants out of the single market and the customs union, we will have to work on a model that is closer to the agreement signed with Canada."
But he added that a future deal would have to be negotiated over "several years".
Updating the House of Commons on the Brexit talks yesterday, Mrs May said she had a “degree of confidence” that Brexit talks on a future trade deal would begin in December.
“After the Florence speech there is a new momentum,” she told MPs.
“The Florence speech was a step forward and there should be a positive response to the willingness to work on the interim period and there has been established, a momentum.”
But Mr Corbyn told his MPs and peers last night: "I am now getting a worrying Groundhog Day feeling every time Theresa May gives us an update on what she calls the ‘progress’ of Brexit negotiations...
"Government chaos and splits are weakening Britain's negotiating position and damaging the negotiations.
“So too is the EU’s approach to haggling about money. They need to stop briefing astronomical and unacceptable numbers."
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