‘No point talking’ with EU until it treats UK as sovereign state – minister

London sees no point in having Brexit talks with the European Union if Brussels does not treat the UK as a sovereign state, Junior Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi has said.

London is still trying to get a deal, but only as long as the EU is ready to treat the UK fairly, Zahawi told Sky News.

Until you make it very clear that you are willing to negotiate with us as an equal, as a sovereign, then there’s no point simply just paying lip service saying you know ‘we’ll intensify’ negotiations

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the previous day that the EU “remains available to intensify talks in London this week, on all subjects, and based on legal texts.” He tweeted that in Brussels they “now wait for the UK’s reaction.”

Reaction came quickly, as Downing Street flatly refused to restart the Brexit deal talks. London has noted Brussels’ proposal to genuinely intensify negotiations, the government spokesman said, adding, however, that the UK continues to believe “there is no basis to resume talks unless there is a fundamental change of approach from the EU.”

This means “an EU approach consistent with trying to find an agreement between sovereign equals,” he said.

The statement came after Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove earlier in the day welcomed Barnier’s proposal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday there was no point in continuing talks, and Gove repeated Britain’s demands in Parliament on Monday. “We have to be in control of our own borders, our fishing grounds, we have to set our own laws,” he said. “We have to be free to thrive as an independent free trading nation.”

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