Brexit 'Bloody Hell Week' timetable: Why this week will determine FUTURE of Brexit Britain
THERESA MAY is this week preparing for a tumultuous few days for Brexit negotiations but why is this week Brexit ‘Bloody Hell Week’?
Brexit: Dominic Raab arrives for talks with Barnier in Brussels
Prime Minister Theresa May is steeling herself for the week ahead as Brexit negotiations heat up.
This is following her refusal to sign off on a draft agreement last night.
The draft agreement, which was tentatively reached by Mrs May’s Brussels negotiating team, was shot down by the Prime Minister as it would mean Britain would remain in the EU customs union for years.
Her decision to veto the agreement means the chance of an outline withdrawal deal being discussed at this week’s European Council summit is now almost zero.
And now the EU’s entire Brexit timetable has been thrown out of the window, as well as drastically increasing the chances of a no-deal outcome.
One Brexit insider has dubbed this coming week “Bloody Hell Week” as the European Council will gather to discuss Brexit on Wednesday, October 17.
The EU were banking on the draft deal being finalised by negotiators over the weekend, as a pre-summit meeting of senior officials would take place in Brussels today.
According to the EU’s timetable, the deal would then be signed off by the UK Cabinet tomorrow, before being presented to EU27 leaders on Wednesday night at the beginning of the summit.
However, the Prime Minister’s refusal to sign throws this schedule completely off track.
Both EU and UK sources told Politico a deal was reached at a “technical level” yesterday, however, was slammed as “unacceptable” by Mrs May and Brexit Secretary, Dominic Raab.
This meant Mr Raab flew to Brussels yesterday for more than an hour of futile talks with EU Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier.
The main outcome of these talks was the reiterated message that Britain would not agree to the current plans for the Irish “backstop”.
Now today’s meeting of EU sherpas has been cancelled - and no pre-summit talks will take place before Wednesday’s summit.
What happens next?
The part of negotiators has largely run its course, and now will be down to the politicians to debate Brexit terms. This will no doubt include the Prime Minister.
One UK official told Politico: “It was never assumed a deal was going to be done today.
“It was just the time to move technical negotiations on a political level.”
This next course of action was agreed by an EU diplomat: “It’s now time for politicians to step in and take over.”
The EU27 will meet on Wednesday evening to discuss Brexit at a working dinner, presumably paving the way for politicians to debate rather than negotiators.
It is not clear whether Theresa May will address EU leaders before the dinner but in the wake of the current Brexit impasse, it seems highly likely she will.