EU chief accuses Theresa May of 'abusing' terrorism fears

EU chief accuses Theresa May of 'abusing' terrorism fears

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The Brexit battle escalated today as the EU parliament's chief negotiator accused Theresa May of 'abusing' fears over terrorism to get a good trade deal.

Guy Verhofstadt delivered the jibe as tensions reached new heights in the wake of Theresa May's steely message about the divorce process.

The PM made history yesterday when the letter triggering Article 50 was handed to European Council president Donald Tusk - formally beginning the process of cutting ties with Brussels.



She also called for discussions on the divorce bill to run in parallel with talks on future trade links, saying there must be a 'comprehensive' deal.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear she will not accept the UK demands on the timetable.

'The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship,' Mrs Merkel said.

'Only when this question is dealt with can we, hopefully soon after, begin talking about our future relationship.'



Mr Verhofstadt stepped up his attack today saying security issues must be kept separate from the spats over settling up liabilities and trade.

'It doesn't work like that. You cannot use or abuse the security of citizens to have a good deal on something else,' he told Sky News.

'In our opinion these are two separate pillars.'

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Brexit Secretary David Davis portrayed the responses in the EU as posturing, stressing that negotiations were only just getting under way.

'I spent all of yesterday afternoon on the telephone talking to my opposite numbers in the Parliament, in the commission, around all the member states,' he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

'Virtually all of them said spontaneously, it's a very positive letter, the tone was good, and so on.'

In a Commons performance lasting more than three hours and 20 minutes, the Prime Minister fielded questions from MPs and set out her vision for Brexit.



She pledged to forge a ‘stronger, fairer, more united’ country, take back control of the UK’s borders and strike an early agreement to guarantee the rights of 3.2million EU citizens living in this country and 1.2million British citizens in Europe. ‘I choose to believe in Britain and that our best days are ahead,’ she said.

The Prime Minister acknowledged there would be consequences for the UK in leaving the EU, with exporters forced to abide by rules that Britain no longer had a say in deciding. Downing Street denied that Mrs May’s decision to explicitly raise the security issues was a threat, saying it was a ‘statement of fact’ that EU membership is the basis for substantial co-operation on security.

Mrs May’s tough stance on security could see the UK withdraw co-operation on issues such as the sharing of DNA, vehicle registration and fingerprints, as well as the UK’s involvement in the cross-border Europol agency and the European Arrest Warrant.

During a cagey interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil last night, the Prime Minister refused to rule out making a divorce payment to the EU.

She said the UK would stop making large payments to Brussels but told the BBC: ‘We’re a law-abiding nation, we will meet obligations that we have.’

Some ministers have warned the PM that Tory MPs would not accept a bill of more than £3billion. EU leaders have suggested a figure closer to £50billion.