‘Britain WILL walk away’ Theresa May vows NOT to accept a bad Brexit deal from Brussels

The Prime Minister also hit back at claims she was “from a different galaxy” to her EU counterparts after her meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly went “very badly”.

She further renewed her vow to pursue a trade deal with Europe alongside Britain’s divorce negotiations.

Mrs May said: “No, look, I’m not in a different galaxy but I think what this shows, and what some of the other comments we’ve seen coming from European leaders shows, is that there are going to be times when these negotiations are going to be tough.”

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PA

Theresa May has revealed she is still prepared to walk away without a deal if negotiations go bad

When asked whether she would agree to pay the “divorce” bill to the EU, which Brussels hopes to set at £50 billion, before the negotiation are complete, she added: “The EU itself has also said that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Over the weekend, Mr Juncker reportedly warned European leaders that talks could collapse because of the gulf between Britain and EU on key issues.

The president of the European Commission told Angela Merkel that Mrs May was in a “different galaxy” over her approach to Brexit.

PA

Mrs May has warned that negotiations could be tough

I’m not in a different galaxy but I think what this shows… there are going to be times when these negotiations are going to be tough

Theresa May

Other Brussels officials have also claimed that the negotiations may fall apart after Britain blocked a £5.05billion (€6billion) EU budget increase last week.

The increase would have cost British taxpayers £673million (€800million) over the next four years, while a number of senior figures claimed they do not know who was running Britain negotiations.

The critical EU briefings came after a dinner between Mrs May, Mr Juncker and Michel Barnier, the lead Brexit negotiator, which Brussels figures claimed went “very badly” because of a series of misunderstandings.

REUTERS

Theresa May meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker last week

But this has been disputed by senior Tories.

During the dinner an aid of Mr Juncker’s produced a copy of the 2,000-page EU-Canada trade in a bid to how the complexity of a potential deal.

But Mrs May hit back saying that it was inappropriate comparison and it is understood she told the Mr Juncker that a trade deal with the EU would occur as part of the Brexit negotiations.

She added: “We’re starting from an entirely different point, so I think that actually us negotiating a comprehensive free-trade agreement will be easier, should be easier, and that we can do that within the timeframe we’ve got.”

Martin Selmayr, Mr Juncker’s chief of staff, who attended the dinner, later said: “Now, we’ll have to apply full purdah reciprocity.

“Talks with UK, formal or informal, will start only after June 8.”