Theresa May today angrily denied that the botched election campaign forced her to beg the EU for a Brexit transition deal.
A clearly furious Prime Minister repeatedly stared down MPs during bad-tempered clashes at a committee hearing.
Glaring over the top of her spectacles, Mrs May rejected criticism of the way she has been handling negotiations with Brussels.
She dismissed concerns about concessions made in the Brexit divorce deal that rules will stay sufficiently aligned to preserve the soft Irish border.
A clearly furious Prime Minister repeatedly stared down MPs during bad-tempered clashes at a committee hearing
The scenes came as Mrs May gave evidence to the powerful Liaison Committee, which is made up of senior MPs from across parties
Mrs May dismissed concerns about concessions made in the Brexit divorce deal that rules will stay sufficiently aligned to preserve the soft Irish border
In one highly charged exchange, Mrs May scathingly shook her head in frustration after Labour MP Yvette Cooper said her plans for technological solutions to the Irish border issue were ‘baffling’.
The scenes came as Mrs May gave evidence to the powerful Liaison Committee, which is made up of senior MPs from across parties.
Mrs May was asked about EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier’s demand that the transition period should finish on December 31, 2020 – shorter than mooted by the UK.
She repeated that she was seeking a implementation period lasting ‘around two years’.
‘We are going into a negotiation,’ Mrs May said. ‘What I would say is that the City of London is obviously important to us here in the UK, but actually it is of significant importance to the rest of the EU as well.
‘I think as we come into discussions, there will be a greater recognition of the role the City plays in financial provisions for Europe as a whole, not just the UK.’
But Energy Select Committee chairman Angus MacNeil accused her of ‘begging’ the EU for as long as possible because she had wasted time calling an election in which she ended up losing her Commons majority.
‘I have not begged the EU for two more years,’ Mrs May insisted.
The PM, who was giving her spectacles a rare public outing, said the transition had been under consideration long before the election was called, and was about giving business certainty.
‘This is not two more years to negotiate with the EU. This is two years when practically both businesses and governments will be able to put in place the changes necessary to move from the current relationship to the future partnership we will have,’ she said.
Although she did not formally propose an ‘implementation period’ until her speech in Florence in September, she claimed her reference to the need for a ‘smooth and orderly’ Brexit in an earlier speech at Lancaster House in January made clear that was what she had in mind.
Mrs Cooper asked Mrs May to confirm that the government would not rely on cameras at the Northern Ireland border.
Mrs May replied: ‘We have said there will be no physical infrastructure in relations to Northern Ireland, we have put forward a number of options as to how we think that border issue can be addressed, and in fact those are options which could be applicable more widely in terms of our future relationship with the UK and European Union.’
Ms Cooper pushed her to confirm whether there would be ‘physical infrastructure’ – which could potentially violate the Good Friday Agreement.
The PM retorted: ‘We are not going to give a running commentary on every aspect…
In one highly charged exchange, Mrs May scathingly shook her head in frustration after Labour MP Yvette Cooper said her plans for technological solutions to the Irish border issue were ‘baffling’
Energy Select Committee chairman Angus MacNeil accused her of ‘begging’ the EU for as long as possible because she had wasted time calling an election in which she ended up losing her Commons majority
Glaring over the top of her spectacles, Mrs May rejected criticism of the way she has been handling negotiations with Brussels
‘What I am saying is as part of our negotiations we will be ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
‘That can be achieved in a number of ways. I am not going to say precisely how we are going to achieve that because we are going into a negotiation.’
Mrs Cooper said: ‘OK that’s also baffling.’
At that point Mrs May angrily shook her head.
Mrs May also rejected the idea that leaving the EU would necessarily mean increased trade barriers with 94 countries which are either members of the bloc or have trade agreements with it. She suggested that some of the trade agreements with outside countries could simply be ‘rolled over’ to the UK on withdrawal.
Mrs May said she believed negotiations on a free trade agreement could be completed before Brexit day.
‘That is what we are working to and that is what I believe we can do,’ she said.
‘I and others have made the point in the past that of course we start off at a different point from other third countries… because we’re already a member and already trading with them on a particular basis.
‘As you will know full well, we can’t legally sign the new trade agreement with the European Union until we’re a third country, until we’re out of the European Union – March 29 2019 – but I believe we can negotiate that arrangement in that time.’
She added: ‘The reason I’m confident that we can do this within the time concerned is because we start off from a different point.
‘So we haven’t got a situation where country A is coming to negotiate with the EU not having had any arrangements with the EU before.
‘We come form the point where we’re actually a member of the European Union, we’re operating on the same basis at the moment, and therefore I think that starts us off from a different position in terms of our negotiations on trade in the future.’
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured in Brussels today) has set out a Brexit timetable that means the UK will be fully out of the EU by January 1, 2021 – earlier than Mrs May had suggested