‘Britain is behaving like a GANGSTER’ Belgian MEP's furious rant at Davis over Brexit deal
A FURIOUS Belgian MEP today accused Britain of behaving like a “gangster” after David Davis enraged Brussels by suggesting last week’s Brexit agreement is not legally binding.
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Philippe Lamberts, who sits on the EU Parliament’s Brexit steering group, said that the UK will be shunned by governments across the globe if it reneges on its promises to the bloc.
In a blistering attack he accused the Brexit secretary of “undermining” trust between London and Brussels and said his remarks would have severe ramification for the dream of a ‘Global Britain’.
Mr Davis prompted open fury across the EU over the weekend when he suggested in a television interview that the text agreed between Mrs May and Jean-Claude Juncker is not binding on the UK.
His comments came after environment secretary Michael Gove also jangled European nerves by suggesting that future UK governments could change the agreement, which is supposed to be set in stone.
The remarks were seen as particularly politically sensitive given that the 27 EU leaders stll have to sign off on sufficient progress when they meet to discuss opening trade talks on Friday.
Already the EU Parliament has used the furore as an excuse to harden its own resolution on Brexit, laying into Mr Davis and tacitly implying that the UK is not negotiating in "good faith".
The draft withdrawal agreement, agreed betwen UK and EU negotiators on Friday, signs Britain up to a £39 billion Brexit bill, ongoing ECJ jurisdiction for a period of eight years and regulatory alignment with Brussels if a hard border is threatened in Ireland.
Some Brexiteers greeted the document with open fury although many, including heavyweights like Boris Johnson and Mr Gove, hailed it as a pragmatic way of moving onto the crucial trade talks.
How can Britain be taken seriously globally if it behaves like a gangster in its international relationships?
Green MEP Mr Lamberts said: “We count on the British Government to honour its political commitment. I mean how can you be taken seriously, I’m not talking about the 27, by anyone else on this planet.
“It’s a matter of credibility on the global stage. How can Britain be taken seriously globally if it behaves like a gangster in its international relationships?
“Commitments have been made. It’s not an intention, it’s a commitment, If you give a political commitment and then immediately say that was just for theatre then of course you cannot be taken seriously.
“I think we built up a degree of trust between the EU27 and the British Government and I think the kind of declarations David Davis made in the Commons is undermining that trust. I hope the PM will not follow suit and dispel any value to what she says.”
In its updated Brexit resolution today the EU Parliament accuses Mrs Davis of "undermining the good faith that has been built during the negotiations" and mirrors a call by the EU Council for the agreement to be drawn up in legal terms as quickly as possible.
The changed document states that MEPs are satisfied that "the report allows for the negotiations to move on to the second phase and recommends that the European Council decide accordingly".,
However, the parliament "believes that negotiations must be conducted in good faith and is of the opinion that negotiations can only progress during the second phase if the UK government also fully respects the commitments it made in the Joint Report and they are fully translated into the draft Withdrawal Agreement".
