Brexit negotiations have basically descended into a real-life version of Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal, and both the UK government and the EU think they’re holding the £250,000 box.
What it means: After a lot of shouting about how ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ Theresa May finally came up with a blueprint for a Brexit deal with the EU in July. You might have heard it called the ‘Chequers proposal’ (and if you’ve never heard of it, we’ve created a nifty explanation of what it is here). But in an interview with a German newspaper the EU’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier has said he’s ‘strongly opposed’ to the ‘illegal’ offer .
Barnier sees the Chequers proposal as ‘cherry-picking’. He thinks the UK wants to keep the bits of its relationship with the EU it likes, such as not paying taxes when it buys French wines and German cars, and throw out the bits it doesn’t, like giving the EU any money. Barnier is worried that if he agrees to this then other EU countries will want a similarly sweet deal, and all the arguing could cause the EU to collapse.
Theresa May, meanwhile, says it’s Chequers or nothing. Where’s Noel Edmonds when you need him?
