A new cabinet split over the handling of Brexit has emerged as ministers privately attacked each other over how to approach EU negotiations. Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, has been blamed for talking down Britain’s hopes of getting a good deal and attacked for his “relentless pessimism”. One cabinet colleague went as far saying that Mr Hammond, who voted to stay in the EU, should “watch his back” and could lose his job. However friends of Mr Hammond are furious with the “nonsense and garbage” that Eurosceptics have said about the strength of Britain’s hand in talks. “The obligation is on the Brexit leaders to now tell the British public some hard truths,” a Treasury figure said.
Cabinet split over handling of Brexit
It dawned on investors this week that when it comes to quitting the European Union, safeguarding the economy isn’t Prime Minister Theresa May’s top priority. With the premier signaling that a crackdown on immigration took precedence over membership of the bloc’s single market and European leaders hardening their position, traders responded by driving the pound to its lowest against the dollar since 1985. Following an overnight plunge in Asia, the currency is wrapping up its worst week since the June Brexit vote.
Rude Awakening in the U.K. Over Brexit Cost Sends Pound Down - Bloomberg
Britain and the EU appear more bitterly divided over Brexit than at any time since the referendum, with European leaders ramping up their rhetoric after Theresa May signalled she would seek a clean break with the bloc. The prime minister’s Conservative conference speech, in which she indicated Britain would prioritise immigration control and restore the primacy of UK law to become an “independent, sovereign nation” without full access to the single market, drew a sharp response from continental capitals. In Paris, François Hollande said Britain must suffer the consequences of its decision. “The UK has decided to do a Brexit. I believe even a hard Brexit,” he said. “Well, then we must go all the way through the UK’s willingness to leave the EU. We have to have this firmness.” If not, “we would jeopardise the fundamental principles of the EU”, the French president said on Thursday night. “Other countries would want to leave the EU to get the supposed advantages without the obligations … There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price.”
EU leaders line up to insist UK will pay a high price for Brexit stance | Politics | The Guardian
In an interview with the Guardian, Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, which will hold the EU’s rotating presidency when Britain triggers article 50 early next year, said the four freedoms – the movement of goods, capital, services and people – could not be decoupled. “That cannot be negotiated … These principles are the basis for everything the EU does,” he said. The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, said on Friday that eurozone governments would not accept the City of London remaining the main euro clearing centre once Britain left the EU. “There will be activities taking place in London that will only be able to take place on the territory of the European Union,” he said.
EU leaders line up to insist UK will pay a high price for Brexit stance | Politics | The Guardian