AFP, London :
Britain is now likely leave the European Union without a deal due to the “intransigence” of the European Union, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times.
The pro-Brexit minister said that the chances of a no-deal Brexit were now “60-40”, laying the blame on EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
“I think the intransigence of the commission is pushing us towards no deal,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.
“If the EU decides that the theological obsession of the unelected is to take priority over the economic wellbeing of the people of Europe then it’s a bureaucrats’ Brexit-not a people’s Brexit-then there is only going to be one outcome.”
He said that Barnier had rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s latest plan, agreed by her cabinet, on the grounds that “we have never done it before”.
It was therefore up to the EU to “show us one that they can suggest that would be acceptable to us,” said Fox.
“It’s up to the EU27 to determine whether they want the EU Commission’s ideological purity to be maintained at the expense of their real economies.”
May met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the Mediterranean coast on Friday to lobby for her Brexit plan, which has divided her government and so far failed to win over EU negotiators.
The prime minister has just a few months before an agreement on Britain’s divorce from the European Union-set for March 29, 2019 — must be forged in principle ahead of a EU summit in mid-October.
UK trade minister says ‘no deal’ Brexit more likely than notLONDON (AP) – Britain’s international trade minister says it’s likely the U.K. will fail to agree upon a divorce deal with the European Union before it leaves the bloc next March.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times newspaper that “intransigence” by EU officials “is pushing us towards no deal.” He put the chance of Britain crashing out without a deal at 60 percent.
Divorce talks have stalled, and the British government is trying to heap pressure on the other 27 EU nations to compromise by stressing the economic harm from a “no-deal” Brexit that imposes tariffs and other barriers on U.K.-EU trade.
The bloc says Britain has failed to make realistic proposals. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government is split over how close an economic relationship it should seek with the bloc.
UK trade minister Fox says EU is pushing Britain to no-deal BrexitLONDON (Reuters) – British trade minister Liam Fox said “intransigence” from the European Union was pushing Britain toward a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published on Saturday by the Sunday Times.
With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement.
Fox, a prominent Brexit supporter in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without agreeing a deal over their future relationship at 60-40.
“I think the intransigence of the commission is pushing us toward no deal,” Fox told the Sunday Times after a trade mission in Japan.
“We have set out the basis in which a deal can happen but if the EU decides that the theological obsession of the unelected is to take priority over the economic wellbeing of the people of Europe then it’s a bureaucrats’ Brexit-not a people’s Brexit — (and) then there is only going to be one outcome.”
It was up to the EU whether it wanted to put “ideological purity” ahead of the real economy, Fox said.
If Britain fails to agree the terms of its divorce with the EU and leaves without even a transition agreement to smooth its exit, it would revert to trading under World Trade Organization rules in March 2019.
Most economists think this would cause serious harm to the world’s No.5 economy as trade with the EU, Britain’s largest market, would become subject to tariffs.
Supporters of Brexit say there may be some short-term pain for Britain’s $2.9 trillion economy, but that long-term it will prosper when cut free from the EU, which some of them cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.
On Friday Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the chances of a no-deal Brexit had become “uncomfortably high”.
Britain is now likely leave the European Union without a deal due to the “intransigence” of the European Union, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times.
The pro-Brexit minister said that the chances of a no-deal Brexit were now “60-40”, laying the blame on EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
“I think the intransigence of the commission is pushing us towards no deal,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.
“If the EU decides that the theological obsession of the unelected is to take priority over the economic wellbeing of the people of Europe then it’s a bureaucrats’ Brexit-not a people’s Brexit-then there is only going to be one outcome.”
He said that Barnier had rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s latest plan, agreed by her cabinet, on the grounds that “we have never done it before”.
It was therefore up to the EU to “show us one that they can suggest that would be acceptable to us,” said Fox.
“It’s up to the EU27 to determine whether they want the EU Commission’s ideological purity to be maintained at the expense of their real economies.”
May met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the Mediterranean coast on Friday to lobby for her Brexit plan, which has divided her government and so far failed to win over EU negotiators.
The prime minister has just a few months before an agreement on Britain’s divorce from the European Union-set for March 29, 2019 — must be forged in principle ahead of a EU summit in mid-October.
UK trade minister says ‘no deal’ Brexit more likely than notLONDON (AP) – Britain’s international trade minister says it’s likely the U.K. will fail to agree upon a divorce deal with the European Union before it leaves the bloc next March.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times newspaper that “intransigence” by EU officials “is pushing us towards no deal.” He put the chance of Britain crashing out without a deal at 60 percent.
Divorce talks have stalled, and the British government is trying to heap pressure on the other 27 EU nations to compromise by stressing the economic harm from a “no-deal” Brexit that imposes tariffs and other barriers on U.K.-EU trade.
The bloc says Britain has failed to make realistic proposals. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government is split over how close an economic relationship it should seek with the bloc.
UK trade minister Fox says EU is pushing Britain to no-deal BrexitLONDON (Reuters) – British trade minister Liam Fox said “intransigence” from the European Union was pushing Britain toward a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published on Saturday by the Sunday Times.
With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement.
Fox, a prominent Brexit supporter in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without agreeing a deal over their future relationship at 60-40.
“I think the intransigence of the commission is pushing us toward no deal,” Fox told the Sunday Times after a trade mission in Japan.
“We have set out the basis in which a deal can happen but if the EU decides that the theological obsession of the unelected is to take priority over the economic wellbeing of the people of Europe then it’s a bureaucrats’ Brexit-not a people’s Brexit — (and) then there is only going to be one outcome.”
It was up to the EU whether it wanted to put “ideological purity” ahead of the real economy, Fox said.
If Britain fails to agree the terms of its divorce with the EU and leaves without even a transition agreement to smooth its exit, it would revert to trading under World Trade Organization rules in March 2019.
Most economists think this would cause serious harm to the world’s No.5 economy as trade with the EU, Britain’s largest market, would become subject to tariffs.
Supporters of Brexit say there may be some short-term pain for Britain’s $2.9 trillion economy, but that long-term it will prosper when cut free from the EU, which some of them cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.
On Friday Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the chances of a no-deal Brexit had become “uncomfortably high”.
