Negotiator denies UK is blackmailing EU on security
LONDON — Britain’s chief negotiator in the country’s divorce from the European Union on Thursday rejected suggestions that the U.K. has threatened to end security co-operation unless it gets a good trade deal with the bloc’s remaining member countries.
The British government, meanwhile, announced plans for the huge task of converting thousands of EU laws and regulations — covering everything from the safety of airplanes to the curve of bananas — into domestic statutes.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said Prime Minister Theresa May’s letter Wednesday triggering talks on Britain’s departure made clear Britain wants to continue to work with the EU on a range of issues, including security.
“We want a deal, and she was making the point that it’s bad for both of us if we don’t have a deal,” Davis told the BBC. “Now that, I think, is a perfectly reasonable point to make and not in any sense a threat.”