Theresa May takes helm of Brexit negotiations

Britain’s PM has taken personal control of Brexit negotiations, as time runs out to get a deal before Britain leaves the EU in March.

British Prime Minister Theresa May. Picture: AFP

Prime Minister Theresa May has taken personal control of Brexit negotiations with the EU as time runs out to get a deal before Britain leaves the bloc in March.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who took over two weeks ago after his predecessor David Davis quit in protest at Mrs May’s plan for close economic ties with the EU, denied he had been demoted.

Overall responsibility for the talks is being moved to the Cabinet Office, the ministry that supports Mrs May and where her main Brexit adviser, civil servant Olly Robbins, is based.

The ministry, ostensibly the public face of the negotiations, will instead focus on the domestic preparations for Brexit, ­including the risk of reaching no deal.

“I will lead the negotiations with the EU, with the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU deputising on my behalf,” Mrs May said in a statement to parliament.

Mr Raab noted he met EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels last week, would see him again tomorrow and intended to make regular visits over the summer.

He told a committee of MPs that Mrs May’s statement simply confirmed that there was “one team”.

A shift in responsibility has been under way for months, as Mr Davis was increasingly sidelined by Mr Robbins before he quit — in what one Eurosceptic MP suggested yesterday was a “coup d’etat”.

Brexit supporters expressed anger that Mr Raab, a fervent believer in the opportunities of leaving the EU, would not be in charge of fulfilling them.

“This is absolutely devastating news to the 17.4 million ­people that voted to leave the EU as we now look set for Brexit in name only,” said Richard Tice of campaign group Leave Means Leave.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Raab presented to parliament a policy paper outlining the elements of the divorce deal agreed so far with the EU, which will eventually be turned into law.

Agreement has been reached on Britain’s financial liabilities and the rights of millions of British and EU expatriates living in each other’s territories.

The EU has also agreed to a post-Brexit transition period in which Britain would effectively remain an EU member until the end of 2020, to ease the break.

Mr Raab revealed this transition would require the extension of elements of the 1972 European Communities Act, which made Britain a member of the EU but is due to be repealed on Brexit day.

Talks with the EU have, however, become stalled on the problem of avoiding border checks between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.

London hopes to resolve the issue by continuing a close economic relationship with the EU, including following the bloc’s rules on trade in goods.

That plan has provoked fury in Mrs May’s Conservative Party and prompted the resignations of Mr Davis and then foreign minister Boris Johnson earlier this month.

AFP