Johnson ‘taking back control’ now has sinister ring: Verhofstadt

The European parliament’s Brexit negotiator has called Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament a sinister development.

David Frost, Boris Johnson’s lead Brexit negotiator, centre, and British ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow, right, leave EU headquarters in Brussels yesterday. Picture: AP

The European parliament’s Brexit negotiator has called Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament a sinister development that will damage talks.

Guy Verhofstadt said that proroguing would destroy any hope of building the consensus needed to get a future trade deal with the EU.

“ ‘Taking back control’ has never looked so sinister,’’ he said. “As a fellow parliamentarian, my solidarity is with those fighting for their voices to be heard.

“Suppressing debate on profound choices is unlikely to help to deliver a stable future EU/UK relationsh­ip.”

The British Prime Minister’s move was cautiously welcomed by EU officials and diplomats, however.

One EU source said: “If the game becomes to constrain the option­s of MPs so very much that they have to accept any deal, then maybe that reduces the pressure on Johnson to get substantial changes to the deal, and a narrow pathway could be found with cosmetic­ changes.

“It’s like a massive game of chicken with parliament, with pretty high stakes.”

The stress in Mr Johnson’s letter ­to MPs on a potential new withdrawal bill as part of the Queen’s Speech has reassured many European governments because, said diplomats, it shows he is serious about negotiating a new deal.

Indicating the planning behind the announcement, David Frost, the Prime Minister’s lead Brexit negotiator was in Brussels to explain­ the government’s strategy. He told officials not to read too much into the decision to ­prorogue and said that a deal was Britain’s “first option”.

A senior EU official wrote after­wards: “He very much played down the decision taken to prorogu­e parliament, saying it was a normal procedure … he stressed very strongly that the new prime minister was seeking a deal, which was definitely his first option, but that he was not frightened of no deal.”

Mr Frost told officials that the new parliamentary timetable left time for MPs to ratify a new deal “during the second half of October” and said that the “UK was open to all ideas on solving the Irish border issue”. EU expect­ations have grown that British plans for an alternative to the Irish backstop will be tabled soon.

A European Commission spokesman said: “Our working assumpti­on is Brexit should occur on October 31 and that should happen with a deal. For that to happen, the earlier we see workable proposals the better.”

Other diplomatic sources said the prorogation meant that Britain would be unlikely to present proposals before the Queen’s Speech or the Conservative Party conference running into early October.

A source said: “We weren’t expecti­ng him to come with concrete­ proposals, even less so now that it sounds like the 30-day ‘deadline’ now runs until October. No 10 are trying to impress that there is actually a way to get this whole thing through and wrapped up by October 31.”

Mr Frost will be back in Brussels for more talks next week and, it is suggested, has asked EU officials to help the government to draft a plan.

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said that there was too little time to negotiate an alternative to the backstop before October 31. “The ratification of the withdrawal agreement, including the now-famous backstop, cannot simply be renegotiated,” he said. “Even if we wanted to do that, which we don’t, we can’t do it in six or 10 weeks.”

Norbert Rottgen, chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said: “Johnson argues that respect for democracy dictates implementing Brexit ‘do or die’ on October 31 … I wonder: how does respect for democracy go together with suspending parlia­ment?”

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, called on the EU and France to negotiate mini deals, such as on fishing, to soften the impac­t of no-deal Brexit.

“In the event of a no-deal exit, access to UK waters falls entirely within our control … of the fish landed by French vessels, 40 per cent of it comes from UK waters,” he said. “That’s why it is important that we have discussions now.”

The Times