Theresa May says still 'long way apart' from EU on Brexit
By Caoimhe Toman
Date: Friday 21 Sep 2018
(Sharecast News) - UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Brexit negotiations were at an impasse and accused the European Union of not treating the UK with respect, sending the pound tumbling on Friday.
Making an unscheduled statement at Downing Street, May said the UK and EU were a long way apart on key issues and reiterated that no deal was better than a bad deal, saying for EU leaders to reject her Chequers plans with no alternative at this "late stage of negotiations" was "not acceptable".
A day earlier, the May was felt to have been humiliated as EU leaders rejected her Chequers plan.
In her statement today she said: "Throughout this process I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same, a good relationship at the end of this process depends on it."
May said that although the two sides remain "a long way apart", the UK was prepared to negotiate and called on the EU to offer alternatives to her plans for Brexit.
"It is not acceptable to simply reject the other side's proposals without a detailed explanation and counter proposals," May said. "So we now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are and what their alternative is so that we can discuss them."
Sterling suffered its biggest one-day fall since last November, sinking 1.5% against the dollar to 1.30 and down 1% against the euro at €1.115.
Market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets said: "May made it clear there will be no second referendum on the UK membership of the EU and there will be no customs border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The pound dropped sharply as dealers are not expecting an agreement to be reached any time soon."
May is still sticking up for her Chequers plan even though it has received criticism from both Tory Brexiters and EU leaders. Her plan would have the UK share a common rulebook for goods and services with the EU post-Brexit to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
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