MERKY WATERS
Germany’s Angela Merkel ‘COULD renegotiate Brexit’ with a new Tory PM, Jeremy Hunt claims
ANGELA Merkel could be willing to renegotiate Brexit with a new British PM, Jeremy Hunt has claimed.
The Foreign Secretary said the Europeans would be willing to look again at the deal with a new leader in place.
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That's despite EU boss Michel Barnier insisting the Brexit deal can't be reopened under a new PM
Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday today, the leadership hopeful said: "I had a conversation with Angela Merkel earlier this week at the D-Day celebration.
"I'm absolutely clear that, if we take the right approach to this, the Europeans would be willing to negotiate on the package.
"She said of course with a new British prime minister we would look at any solutions.
"'It's up to you', she said. 'Germany doesn't have that border with the Republic of Ireland, you need to come up with a solution.'"
Mr Hunt, who is in the running to be the next PM after Theresa May officially quit as Tory leader on Friday, said the backstop was "clearly not acceptable to Parliament" and he would push a technology-based solution to the Irish border.
"I think that's doable," he insisted.
"We need to find structures that reassure people this is deliverable."
Mr Hunt said he'd "done deals [my] whole life" and he would approach them in the right way.
Going too hard would only get Britain "one step closer to a general election", he added.
"I have those skills to deliver a deal."
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The Sun Says
PIG-headed Michel Barnier has been at it again. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator warned that there would be no reworking of our withdrawal agreement just because we will have a new Prime Minister.
But while he continued playing hard-ball, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was telling Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt that the EU will consider a new deal drawn up by the next PM.
That was even before Boris Johnson’s threat to withhold our £39billion “divorce payment” until a satisfactory deal is on the table.
Mrs Merkel knows better than most that it is in everybody’s interest — the EU’s as much as ours — to get an acceptable deal. Without one, we all lose.
The sooner that Mr Barnier is out of a job the better.
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But going in with an "ultra hard line approach" wouldn't work, he insisted, in a dig at his rival Boris Johnson.
Today Boris insisted he would hold back the £39billion divorce bill until we get better terms.
And he promised to get ready to leave the EU without a deal in October too, if we couldn't get what we wanted.
Meanwhile, Brexiteer Esther McVey became the second Tory candidate to refuse to rule out stopping Parliament in order to force through a No Deal Brexit.
Dominic Raab sparked a furious backlash when he suggested it last week.
Fellow Brexiteer Ms McVey told the Andrew Marr Show earlier: "That wouldn't be my priority, I wouldn't be looking to do that, no, what I've said is we would use all the tools at our disposal."
She accused rivals of "tearing up 400 years of history" by trying to stop Brexit.
In The Sun on Sunday today she vowed too that four million public service workers would get a pay rise if she were to be crowned the next PM.
Nurses, firefighters, midwives, teachers and cops will all get a guaranteed annual increase at least in line with inflation.
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