Business

Davis and Barnier to meet after Brexit backstop drama

Brexit secretary David Davis and his Brussels counterpart Michel Barnier are to meet today for the first time since last week's backstop drama.

Davis threatened to resign over the wording of Theresa May's initial backstop proposal, a temporary customs arrangement designed to be used in order to avoid a hard border on Ireland.

The Cabinet minister and others insisted that the six-page document include an end date – which it ultimately did, albeit with a number of get-out clauses designed to keep Brussels on board.

On Friday, Barnier rejected major components of the proposal, although he insisted that did not mean he was rejecting the proposal itself. However it's hard to see how it can go forward as it stands: he refused to countenance the idea that the temporary customs union include the whole of the UK and indicated that the time limit would also be problematic.

Today will also be the first time the pair have met since their war of words over trust.

In a speech on Wednesday Davis accused the EU of "shooting itself in the foot to prove the gun works" when it comes to security and defence, and implying that the EU's position suggested a lack of trust in its "proven" ally.

A frustrated-sounding Barnier hit back at these comments, saying Brussels would not "be intimidated by this blame game", and adding both sides needed "more trust, but also more realism about what is possible and what is not".

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