Guy Verhofstadt criticized the figures behind the Brexit project.
The European Parliament’s chief Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, has delivered a damning indictment on Britain’s departure in Brussels — but says he hopes this week’s cross-party talks will pave a way forward.
“I can tell you, the sessions of the House of Commons have become more popular even than the matches in the Premier League in Europe,” Verhofstadt joked. “The only difference is, I can tell you it’s always a draw there in the House of Commons.
“Let’s hope that these cross-party negotiations that start today give us a solution in the coming days,” he went on.
“We are open to change the Political Declaration to make that possible — a customs union, a free trade arrangement, a Common Market 2.0, maybe something else — we are open to do so.”
But he said that such a plan must be voted on in the House of Commons before Britain’s current departure date of April 12. “We need also a road map, so that we are sure that everything is implemented,” he added.
Verhofstadt then criticized some key architects of the Brexit project, warning that a long delay could see one of those figures take the reins.
“We cannot risk giving the keys of the EU’s future to a Boris Johnson, or a Michael Gove, the architects of this Brexit disaster,” he said. “A long extension would do exactly that.”
He concluded: “With Brexit, the people of Europe can now see for themselves that the projects of nationalists and populists always end in disaster, a mess in which everyone loses.”
