LONDON: Britain said on Saturday it would not capitulate in Brexit talks and again urged its EU partners to engage with its proposals, as ministers in Paris and Berlin suggested the next move in the negotiations should come from London.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday demanded new proposals and respect from European Union leaders, saying after a summit in Austria that talks had hit an impasse — a position her foreign minister reinforced on Saturday, even if that meant leaving the bloc next March without a deal.

“If the EU’s view is that just by saying no to every proposal made by the United Kingdom, we will eventually capitulate and end up either with a Norway option or indeed staying in the EU... then they’ve profoundly misjudged he British people,” Jeremy Hunt told BBC radio.

“We may be polite, but we have a bottom line. And so they need to engage with us now in seriousness.” May’s defiant statement was welcomed on Saturday by many in the British press that had seen the Salzburg summit as a failure for her. The Daily Express said it was “May’s finest hour”.

But initial reactions from across the English Channel suggested France and Germany were digging in too.

EU leaders and May have said they want to get a deal agreed in October, to be finalised in November.

In Paris, Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau said that, while France still believed a good Brexit deal was possible, it must also prepare for a ‘no deal’ outcome.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2018