May says report of negative Brexit talks is 'Brussels gossip'

Credit: John Stillwell/PA Wire/PA Images

  • Video report by ITV News' Political Correspondent Emily Morgan

The Prime Minister has dismissed claims in a German newspaper that Brexit talks she held with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker ended negatively as "Brussels gossip".

Theresa May came under fire following reports Mr Juncker walked out of talks last week in Downing Street saying he was "10 times more sceptical than before".

Campaigning in Ormskirk, Lancashire on Sunday, Mrs May brushed off the claims insisting that they were at odds with what the commission had said about the meeting.

"From what I have seen of this account, I think it is Brussels gossip," she told reporters.

"Look at what the European Commission themselves said immediately after the dinner took place which was that the talks had been constructive," the Prime Minister added.

Downing Street said it did not recognise the report which appeared in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

However, the reported disclosures - attributed to commission sources - threatened to sour the mood between London and Brussels before negotiations have even begun.

The Prime Minister greeting Jean-Claude Juncker last week in Downing Street. Credit: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS Entertainment

The EU side - which included chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier - was said to have concluded that Mrs May was far too optimistic about the prospects for a deal.

When the Prime Minister told them "Let us make Brexit a success", Mr Juncker was said to have replied "Brexit cannot be a success".

At one point - to underline the complexity of negotiations - the commission president was said to have brandished copies of Croatia's EU entry deal and Canada's free trade deal which runs to 2,000 pages.

Mrs May was also said to have angered the EU side when she warned that the UK could not be forced to pay a "divorce bill" for leaving because there was no requirement under the treaties, which drew the response that the EU was "not a golf club".

Credit: PA

The following morning he reportedly rang German chancellor Angela Merkel to warn her that Mrs May's approach was from a "different galaxy".

Mrs Merkel responded by re-writing a speech she was giving that day to warn that some in Britain were still harbouring "illusions" about the Brexit process.

No 10 said it did not recognise the account of the meeting which took place over dinner last Wednesday.

A Government spokesman said: "As the Prime Minister and Jean-Claude Juncker made clear, this was a constructive meeting ahead of the negotiations formally getting under way."

Number 10 say it does not recognise the reports that the Brexit talks ended negatively. Credit: PA

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, campaigning in Battersea, south London, warned Mrs May's negotiating strategy was unravelling.

"Of course they are going to be difficult (negotiations), but you start from the basis that you want to reach an agreement, you start from the basis that you have quite a lot of shared interests and values," he said.

"If you start from that basis and show respect, you are more likely to get a good deal. But if you start with a megaphone, calling people silly names, it is not a great start to anything."

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said: "It's clear this Government has no clue and is taking the country towards a disastrous hard Brexit."

For the SNP, Scotland's minister for UK negotiations with the EU Michael Russell said: "Leaving the EU with no deal - and no agreement on access to the single market - would be an unprecedented act of self-harm which would devastate the UK and Scottish economy."