Theresa May’s dash to Emmanuel Macron's holiday home for emergency Brexit talks ‘has no chance’

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Theresa May’s dash to Emmanuel Macron’s holiday retreat for emergency talks to unlock the stalled Brexit negotiations tomorrow will be rebuffed, Britain’s former ambassador to France warned today.

Lord Ricketts, who was also head of the Diplomatic Service, does not think that the Prime Minister will be able to sway the French president into “breaking rank” from Brussels.

He also believes other EU capitals see the Government’s threats over a No Deal Brexit as a bluff, given the slow level of preparations that have been made in the UK for such a chaotic exit.

Mrs May is due to cut short her Italian holiday to visit Mr Macron at the Fort de Bregancon, on the Riviera, tomorrow.

Mrs May recently said she would be taking control of the negotiations from now on
AP

However, Lord Ricketts, who was also Britain’s national security adviser, was very pessimistic about the likelihood that she will succeed in softening Mr Macron’s hard-line stance on Brexit.

“I don’t see why there is any chance of that,” he told BBC’s Today. “First of all, he does not believe in softening it. He is a passionate pro-European.

“Secondly, he is the last person to want to break ranks with what has been quite an impressively disciplined EU side. We have got to accept we have got to do the hard yards of negotiating in Brussels.

Theresa May has visited Emmanuel Macron for talks 
AP

He believes EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is acting on the mandate from EU nations rather than “freelancing”. He also warned that ministers threatening No Deal is unlikely to work in gaining concessions.

“The problem with [No Deal is] these crafty foreigners also read our own media and they can see how little preparation has been done and how, in effect, it’s a bluff,” he explained.

Britain should instead be talking with France about security, fighting terrorism, borders and defence as it seeks good post-Brexit ties.

French MP Bruno Bonnell, from Mr Macron’s En Marche party, raised the prospect of extra time for negotiations. He stressed that France was prepared to take an economic blow to protect the EU’s single market and other institutions as the UK “divorces” the union. “Love is gone. Hopefully we can restore it but it will take time. But now it’s time for power discussions,” he said

Thousands of anti-Brexit activists march to Parliament in protest

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Warning that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was “playing a dangerous game” with the No Deal talk, he stressed: “At the end of the day everything is going to happen in Brussels. Let’s open the door to more time maybe. We could probably extend the discussion on Brexit.”

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is in Paris today for talks with the French government.

Mr Hunt warned this week that the risk of a “No Deal” increases by the day, and will continue to do so unless the European Commission budges from its current stance. There remain divisions with Britain over the Irish border, customs arrangements, and other parts of Mrs May’s Chequers plan.

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