The EU are right to try and “scupper” the UK in Brexit negotiations, a journalist and political commentator has claimed.
Benjamin Butterworth questioned why the EU should “give a toss” about the UK in a fiery clash on GB News.
It follows Rishi Sunak coming to an agreement with the EU on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland.
The framework removes the Northern Ireland Protocol’s barriers on trade across the Irish Sea and hands a “veto” to politicians in Stormont on EU law – a set of concessions from Brussels that went further than some expected.
Butterworth argues the sheer amount of time that has been “wasted” on pedantic details such as the trading of sausages shows “the failure of Brexit as a concept”.
He argued: “Brexit zealots will never be happy, they’ll just go on and on complaining until we become little Britain.
“The truth is, after seven years of debate, argument and negotiation, finally the people of Northern Ireland might be able to get sausages again.
“For me that shows the failure of Brexit as a concept. We have wasted thousands upon thousands of hours of politicians’ time to debate such basic things that we had before.
“This has been an incredibly expensive waste of time and frankly the fact it took the King getting involved for right-wingers to think that it looked good speaks volumes of the nonsense of the whole charade.”
Benjamin Butterworth and Carole Malone clashed over the EU's handling of UK matters
Image: GB News
Daily Express columnist Carole Malone hit back at the claims, describing them as “tosh”.
Malone took aim at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), saying it “reinforces EU dogma”.
She added: “This is the typical European institution that made us vote to leave the EU in the first place.
“17.4 million people voted for us to become a fully sovereign nation in the first place.
“This deal, even with its concessions will not make us a fully sovereign nation.”
She added that perceived concessions in the trade agreement suggest a change of tack from the EU, arguing the EU “needs” Britain.
Rishi Sunak faces pressure as the DUP and backbench Tory MPs assess the agreement
House of Commons
Malone added: “Rishi said, ’the world is changing, and that’s what allowed us to come to this agreement’.
“It has got to be self-interest with the EU, they aren’t doing it for us, they don’t give a toss about Britain.”
Benjamin Butterworth snapped back, asking: “Why should they?”
In a fiery retort, Malone said: “We don’t give a toss about them particularly, but they were holding us to ransom about Northern Ireland.
“They tried to scupper us on every level.”
Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen came to an agreement on post-Brexit Northern Ireland trading arrangements
Dan Kitwood
Butterworth argued back, saying the EU’s move to “scupper” talks with Britain “made sense”.
He said: “Surely that was one of the best assets about being a part of the EU, they could have such force in negotiations on the world stage.”
Whether Rishi Sunak’s deal reaches a positive conclusion remains to be seen, with the Democratic Unionist Party and backbench Tory MPs studying the legal detail.
While trade barriers have been removed, a role for the European Court of Justice remains in play, which could be a sticking point.
The Prime Minister is determined to bring the DUP’s Stormont Assembly boycott to an end, which will only be achieved should they be satisfied with the agreement.