‘It’s a misunderstanding’ May DID NOT use UK security as Brexit bargaining chip, MP says
THERESA May’s apparent threat to pull Britain’s co-operation from the European Union's fight against terrorism was a “misunderstanding”, according to a Tory minister.
Work and Pensions Secretary Damien Green defended Theresa May's Brexit letter
In her letter to European Council president Donald Tusk triggering Article 50, the Prime Minister warned failure to reach a comprehensive divorce settlement would lead to a weakening in collaboration in the fight against crime and terrorism.
Furious MPs accused the Prime Minister of attempting to make a trade-off between security and commerce.
May refuses to rule out whether Britain will pay Brexit bill
However, Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said the two issues had been mentioned side by side because they were "all bound up in our membership of the European Union".
Mr Green told BBC’s Newsnight: “It's not a threat, I think that's the misunderstanding. It's absolutely not a threat."
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the letter was "utterly scandalous" and a "blatant threat".
Will we make payments to the EU after #Brexit? Hear @damiangreenmp on #newsnight pic.twitter.com/VPzTAov7Rq
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) March 29, 2017
Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Home Affairs Committee, said the PM should not be using security as a "bargaining chip" in the negotiations.
Dispelling rumours of Mrs May’s threat, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said, writing in the Telegraph: "It is our clear desire and intention that we should continue to play a role as one of the indispensable guarantors of peace and stability in our continent.
"We want to continue to work with our counterparts on defence co-operation, intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism, foreign policy co-ordination on an intergovernmental level.
"At the same time, the PM is right to spell out her vision of a Britain outside the single market - and outside the EU legal order - but able none the less to continue the trading relationship that is so important for businesses and consumers both sides of the Channel."
In Mrs May's letter to Mr Tusk, she set out how it was "necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the EU".
Boris Johnson was quick to defend Theresa May's Article 50 letter
Donald Tusk holding Theresa May's Brexit letter
Asked if free movement would end within two years, Mrs May replied: "We want to have the agreements done in two years. There may then be a period when we are implementing those arrangements."
She added: "I did campaign for Remain and I did vote to Remain but I also said I didn't think the sky would fall in if we left the European Union and it hasn't."