Jeremy Hunt today insisted there is a “way through” stalled Brexit talks as the Government rushed to strike a deal with Brussels to avoid Parliament seizing control of the process.
In a speech in Berlin, he indicated the Government was banking on a concession by Brussels over the Northern Ireland border “backstop”. This would let the Attorney General reassure Tory MPs that the UK could not be held indefinitely in a customs union with the EU.
The Foreign Secretary’s words will fuel the belief that the “Malthouse Compromise” backed by Brexiteers, which would axe the backstop, is not seen as a viable alternative plan to break the deadlock.
Speaking to the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung think tank, Mr Hunt called for “generous and far-sighted leadership” to agree a Brexit deal which could get through Parliament. “It is possible to find a way through this,” he said. “We can get this deal through Parliament if we can have a deal where the Attorney General can change his backstop advice.”
With EU leaders refusing to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement to change the backstop, Mr Hunt stressed: “We do not want historians to ask themselves how it was that Europe failed to achieve an amicable change in its relationship with Britain and inflicted grave and avoidable damage to our continent at the moment when the world order was under threat from other directions.” This came hours before Theresa May was due to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels in a bid to end the Brexit talks stalemate.
The Government is seeking to step up the pace of talks to get an agreement before next week, when backbench MPs are poised to move to delay Brexit and block a no-deal departure.
If progress is made in Brussels, Mrs May could use an EU-Arab summit in Egypt this weekend to try to win the backing of EU leaders for any new plans. But Mr Juncker said he does not expect a “breakthrough” in the talks today.
A senior adviser to EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said there was “zero appetite” in the capitals of the 27 remaining members for renegotiation.
