EU Parliament votes for delay in Brexit talks due to lack of progress
Cabinet splits between Theresa May and Boris Johnson were blamed for the lack of headway during Brexit talks in Brussels.
Tuesday 3 October 2017 20:31, UK
MEPs have voted to block Brexit negotiations moving to the next phase on the UK's future relationship with the EU.
They said a lack of sufficient progress on divorce issues so far meant talks shouldn't progress.
A resolution in the European Parliament calling for a delay , after a debate when splits in Theresa May's Cabinet over Brexit were frequently cited.
Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told the parliament that there are still "serious divergences, especially on the financial settlement".
But UKIP MEP and Brexiteer Nigel Farage accused the EU of holding the UK hostage and dragging things out.
Mr Barnier hit back saying "we are not playing for time" and insisting it was the UK which was slow to get talks started.
The vote is not binding and it will be for the European Council to decide if sufficient progress on EU citizens' rights, the Irish border and the exit bill has been made.
But it gives a strong sense of how MEPs are feeling. And it is MEPs who will have a veto on any final Brexit deal in two years' time.
The result was something of a foregone conclusion after last week's fourth round of negotiations, when Michel Barnier made it clear .
But it will create added worries for the UK Government, who had hoped to get the green light later this month for discussions to move to issues like trade post-Brexit.
MEPs called on the European Council to delay its planned vote on the issue of progress. If it does, that will eat into the time the UK has left to thrash out its future with the EU 27 before it exits the EU.
The parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhoftstadt said divisions in the UK's approach to Brexit were hampering progress.
"There is a lack of clarity, there is a lack of unity," he told MEPs. "There are divisions between Hammond and Fox and Johnson and May".
He said he hoped the Prime Minister would provide more clarity in her speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Theresa May personally came in for repeated criticism ahead of the debate - Mr Farage even called for her to stand down over her handling of Brexit.
The chairman of the European People's Party called on her to sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for stoking confusion during the negotiations.
"Please sack Johnson, because we a need a clear answer who is responsible for the British position," said Manfred Weber.
He then adopted Henry Kissinger's famous quote about the many leaders in the EU.
"Who shall I call in London? Who speaks for the Government? Theresa May, Boris Johnson, or even David Davis?" he asked.
None of this helps create the sense of a unified government standing firm to deliver a strong Brexit for the UK - days ahead of the next round of negotiations and just weeks from when the Council could vote on whether things are heading in the right direction.