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The EU’s top Brexit negotiator dealt a blow to Tory leadership hopefuls today by warning that Europe will not reopen the withdrawal deal.
Michel Barnier maintained it was “fine” for Britain to unshackle itself from the EU without a deal but insisted the treaty was the only option.
His comments come despite a succession of contenders to replace Theresa May saying they would renegotiate the agreement.
In an interview with The New York Review of Books, he said: “If the UK wants to leave in an orderly manner, this treaty is the only option. If the choice is to leave without a deal — fine. If the choice is to stay in the EU — also fine. But if the choice is still to leave the EU in an orderly manner, this treaty is the only option.”
Mr Barnier blamed Brexit on “typically British nostalgia” for when the country was “powerful”.
Asked why the Brexit vote happened in the UK in 2016, he said: “Looking at the causes of Brexit, we find typically British reasons: the hope for a return to a powerful global Britain, nostalgia for the past — nostalgia serves no purpose in politics.
“In my country, too, some politicians still prefer to live in the past. But there were also people voting for Brexit who simply don’t want to accept rules.
“Some voted to leave as they don’t want to accept the Union’s regulations on their trading; they want to speculate freely and the Union doesn’t allow them to do so.”
Under the terms of the deal struck by Mrs May and the EU to delay Brexit until October 31, Brussels bosses have said the Withdrawal Agreement cannot be renegotiated.
