EU official says UK political parties using Brexit to their own interests
A senior European Union official says the two main political parties in Britain have been using their country’s divorce from the EU as a means of advancing their political interests.
Guy Verhofstadt, who serves as European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, said on Saturday that both the ruling Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party have sought to play party politics rather than caring about Britain’s future during discussions about Brexit in the parliament over the past weeks.
“At the moment, it seems that the interest of British parties is more important than that of their country,” said Verhofstadt while speaking to Belgian newspaper L’Echo.
The EU official said that the inability of the members of the British parliament to unite behind a government mechanism that could ensure Britain’s smooth withdrawal from the EU was a sign that party politics was more important than the national interests.
“This situation is the result of British politics. Elsewhere, in Belgium for example, a joint majority opposition committee would have set itself up to make a decision in the country’s interest,” said Verhofstadt.
The comments come more than 10 days after the House of Commons rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU with a historic majority of 230 lawmakers.
May then came with an announcement to the parliament declaring that she would do her best to gain concessions from the EU on the deal although she has indicated that such concessions would not go too far.
May has vowed that if the Commons reject an improved version of her deal, she would have no option but to bring the UK out of the EU on March 29 in a disorderly manner.
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