Brexit: Sending same negotiators back to EU ‘utterly pointless’

The prime minister is facing mounting pressure from Brexiteers who want her to shake up the team that will return to Brussels to pursue alternatives to the Irish border backstop.

Some leading Tory Eurosceptics claim they received assurances from Downing Street ahead of Tuesday’s crunch vote that Mrs May’s chief advisor, Olly Robbins – who previously led the negotiating team – would be swapped out for Crawford Falconer, the UK’s top trade negotiator.

However, Number 10 on Wednesday insisted there were would be “no change” to the PM’s team, and it will still be lead by Mr Robbins.

DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson said sending the same negotiating team back to Brussels in the hopes of securing changes to the treaty is an “utterly pointless exercise”.

He told the News Letter: “There really is no point sending the same people who negotiated this deal the first time. Will they have any heart to get the changes needed, or will they even have the ability?

“They have already negotiated a failed and useless deal, so are they really going to be able to do any better now? Will they even want to?

“You need a change in the team to have a change in outcome.

“Put it this way, if you had a football team that had got hammered by the other side, would you send them back out again, or would you change your starting line-up the next time?

“In this case, the team we sent out last time didn’t even try to play.”

A source close to the government said they understood that Mr Falconer is one name that has been mentioned by Number 10 as a potential addition to the negotiating team.

The News Letter asked Downing Street to clarify whether Mr Robbins would still be heading up the negotiating team, and whether Mr Falconer was being considered for the role.

A spokesperson replied: “Oliver Robbins is still the lead civil service negotiator. Mr Falconer has always had a role in advising the prime minister.”

Meanwhile, Number 10 also confirmed the PM is still considering endorsing a new proposal aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock by uniting Tory Remainers and Brexiteers.

Prominent Tories on both sides of the Brexit divide have reportedly hammered out a secret compromise designed to bridge the gap between the warring factions within the Conservative Party.

The so-called ‘Malthouse’ alternative, negotiated by ERG leaders Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker and Tory Remainers including Nicky Morgan and Stephen Hammond, has also been endorsed by Theresa May’s allies in government, the DUP.

The Downing Street spokesperson said: “As the PM said this week, the fact that leading figures from different sides of the argument are coming together to develop proposals shows how much progress has been made over the past few weeks.

“The government will be engaging with this proposal sincerely and positively, and the principle of alternative arrangements has already been accepted by the EU as a way out of the backstop.”