'Ball's in YOUR COURT!' May issues Brussels ULTIMATUM on day of fresh Brexit talks

In a sign of growing frustration at the slow progress of
talks, the Prime Minister will say Brussels must stop
its stonewalling.
She wants European Union negotiators to come back
with a “constructive” response to her proposals for a
future trade deal.
Mrs May will speak in the Commons this afternoon
after Government sources confirmed she has
authorised a multi-billion pound overhaul of Britain’s
border controls, to be implemented immediately should
the Brexit talks collapse.
Her remarks are expected to be seen as the clearest
signal yet that ministers are drastically accelerating
contingency preparations for walking out of the
Brussels talks without a deal.
Mrs May is understood to be irritated that European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his
chief negotiator Michel Barnier have failed to come up
with a serious counter offer to the Brexit proposals
she set out in her keynote speech in Florence last
month.
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Mrs May will speak in the Commons this afternoon
At
Westminster today Mrs May will say she remains
“optimistic” about getting a deal while insisting it is
now the EU’s turn to come up with proposals for
negotiation.
In a Commons statement she is expected to tell MPs:
“A new, deep and special partnership between a
sovereign United Kingdom and a strong and successful
European Union is our ambition and our offer to our
European friends.
“Achieving that partnership will require leadership and
flexibility, not just from us but from our friends, the 27
nations of the EU.
“And as we look forward to the next stage the ball is
in their court. But I am optimistic we will receive a
positive response.
“Because what we are seeking is not just the best
possible deal for us – but also the best possible deal
for our European friends too.
Mr Juncker and Mr Barnier both welcomed the Prime
Minister's Florence speech
“So while of course progress will not always be
smooth, by approaching these negotiations in a
constructive way – in a spirit of friendship and co-
operation and with our sights firmly set on the future –
I believe we can prove the doomsayers wrong. And I
believe we can seize the opportunities of this defining
moment in the history of our nation.”
Mr Juncker and Mr Barnier both welcomed the Prime
Minister’s Florence speech as “constructive” but then
claimed her offer did not go far enough to allow the
negotiations to move on to the issue of trade.
Her proposals include a transitional period of “around
two years” after the official Brexit date of continuing
close ties with Brussels with an estimated payment
totalling £18billion.
The EU negotiating team are holding out for a far
higher sum, however.
Amid the deadlock it emerged yesterday that Mrs May
has decided to commit billions of pounds to tighten
Britain’s borders in the event of walking out of the
talks.
Theresa May's most powerful
quotes
Thu, August 31, 2017
'I will be ruthless in cutting out waste, streamlining
structures and improving efficiency'.
The cash would be spent on new technology to ensure
border guards can operate a customs system based on
World Trade Organisation tariffs as an alternative to
the current EU rules.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is understood to have
agreed to the expenditure with Treasury sources
indicating that billions of pounds would be “unlocked”
in the New Year to press ahead with the border shake-
up to prepare for leaving the EU in 2019 without a
deal.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab yesterday confirmed
that the preparations have begun.
He said: “Those contingency plans are well under way.
“The Prime Minister has been very clear right from the
outset that we’re going into these negotiations with
our EU friends wanting to get the very best for us and
for them.
“But at the same time it takes two to tango – you
have got to be prepared for all eventualities.
“I know as a justice minister the preparations that are
under way if those negotiations don’t lead to the
positive result we all want and it is only right that the
Chancellor prepares for that too.”
Mrs May was pushing for a “bespoke deal that is
faithful to the referendum result that takes back
control of our money, our laws and our borders”, Mr
Raab said.
He added: “We’ve shown the detail of our plans, we’ve
extended the arm of friendship.”
Mr Raab said that while a trade deal with the EU was
the “optimum” outcome, he was not afraid of leaving
the bloc without an agreement.
“I want us to strive for the best deal and I’d like to see
us get that deal and I’m confident we can.
Boris Johnson hit out by describing the conspirators
within his party as 'nutters'
“We were always going to find the first six months
difficult going, not least because the EU is hanging
tough around the money.”
Meanwhile, Sir John Major yesterday warned that
“disloyal” Tory MPs attempting to overthrow Theresa
May risked putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street.
The former prime minister spoke out about his
“increasing dismay” over the turmoil in Conservative
ranks.
Boris Johnson also hit out by describing the
conspirators within the party as “nutters”.
Comparing his Tory colleagues to a herd of elephants,
the Foreign Secretary said: “Are we really going to be
stampeded myopically over the edge of the gorge, with
an election that no one wants?
“Quo quo scelesti ruitis? as Horace put it at the
beginning of a fresh bout of Rome’s ghastly civil wars,
and which roughly translates as: What do you think
you are doing you nutters? “From what I can see the
Tory herd has refused to be so goaded. We have
sniffed the air and turned sensibly away from the
cliff.”

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