Labour calls for 'emergency talks' with EU to secure Brexit withdrawal agreement

Labour's Keir Starmer has said David Davis must recognise the 'gravity of the situation'

Keir Starmer has demanded the Government ask for 'emergency' talks with the EU (Getty)

Labour has called for “emergency talks” with the EU in a bid to secure an agreement on Brexit withdrawal terms, ahead of a major meeting of European leaders next week.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said the failure to have reached an agreement which would have allowed negotiations to move on to future trade, shows the Government had “wasted months”.

In a letter to his counterpart David Davis, Mr Starmer said the Government must “recognise the gravity of the situation” and request an urgent round of talks to achieve progress.

It comes after the fifth round of Brexit talks closed on Thursday with the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier talking of a “disturbing” deadlock in negotiations.

Mr Starmer said: “Today’s press conference confirms that the Government has failed to meet the target for this round of negotiations.

“Ministers have wasted months of the Brexit talks fighting amongst themselves. This increases the chances that Britain will crash out of the EU without a deal.

“That would be catastrophic for jobs and living standards and must be rejected as a viable option.”

The Government had originally indicated it hoped EU leaders would agree at their October meeting of the European Council that “sufficient progress” had been made on withdrawal issues – the ‘divorce’ bill, EU citizens rights and the Irish border – to move negotiations on to discussing a lucrative future trade deal.

But at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Barnier said no great steps forward had been made and that he would not recommend to the Council that sufficient progress had been achieved.

He said: “In her Florence speech Theresa May explained that the UK would honour the commitments entered into as a member of the union.

“That is an important commitment. However, this week the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out that commitment.”

He added: “There have been, therefore, no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions. Useful discussions, but technical discussions. We have reached a deadlock.”

He said the situation was “disturbing for taxpayers” and businesses across the continent.

In a warning to the UK, he went on to say that the EU would not be making concessions to move talks forward.

He said: “There’s no question of making concessions on citizens' rights, there’s no question of making concessions on the peace process in Ireland, and as regards to the financial settlement, there’s no question of making concessions on thousands of projects throughout Europe.”

On the British side, Mr Davis struck a more optimistic tone, but argued that the European Council needed to broaden Mr Barnier's mandate, to help make progress.

Responding to Sir Keir's letter Mr Davis said there was no need for additional emergency talks because, “it is not a question of time or effort.”

He went on: “I have praised the diligence and hard work of both our teams, as has the European Commission - but of scope and content.

“As I said today, the key to answering many of these issues is to open up a discussion about the future. I hope you will join me in impressing on the EU27, when they meet at the October European Council next week, the importance of allowing Mr Barnier the ability to make progress.”

Turning the tables on his Labour counterpart, he added: “If you are prepared to spell out exactly how much taxpayers’ money you think we should offer the European Union in order to progress talks, or set out what role you see for the European Court of Justice after we leave the European Union, I would be happy to engage on your points in detail.”