FUTURE generations will blame the EU, not Theresa May’s government, unless a good deal is made now, Jeremy Hunt Has said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, the Foreign Secretary insisted Brussels will bear the brunt of British anger over the consequences of an acrimonious deal.
And failing to agree terms now would “inject poison” into the UK’s relationship with the bloc, he claimed.
With three weeks to go until the March 29 deadline, Hunt said: “Future generations, if this ends in acrimony, will say that the EU got this moment wrong. And I really hope they don’t.”
Speaking on the Today programme, Hunt stated: “This is a moment of change in our relationship between the UK and the EU and history will judge both sides very badly if we get this wrong.
“We want to remain the best of friends with the EU. That means getting this agreement through in a way that doesn’t inject poison into our relations for many years to come. That’s what the UK has said we want to do, it’s what most people in the UK want and feel very strongly about.
“But it does need the EU also to be flexible in these negotiations and understand that we now have a very, very clear Task. We know what it would take to get a deal through the House of Commons, and that is for a significant change to allow the Attorney General to change his advice to the Government and say we couldn’t be trapped in a customs union forever.
“That’s not an unreasonable thing to ask and we have made, I think, some progress in the last few days. There’s a bit more to make. It’s entirely possible to get there.”
European Commission spokesman Alex Winterstein said “technical discussions are ongoing” with the UK.
Commenting on the impact of Brexit on the Conservative Party, its depute chairman James Cleverly said: “Our relationship with Europe is something that cuts across parties. We have got to recognise that this is going to introduce tensions and pressures within political parties. Predictions of the death of the Tory Party have been regular and wrong.”
On the negotiations, he stated: “There is give and take on both sides and as you come to the final point of a negotiation of this magnitude it gets most intense, it gets most difficult, it gets most challenging.
“This is where we are. This is where we were always going to end up.
“We are getting close to the point where modest but significant changes can unlock this.”
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