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U.K. Is ‘Very Angry’ With EU Over Brexit Negotiations, Hunt Says

U.K. Is `Very Angry' With EU Over Brexit Negotiations, Hunt Says

(Bloomberg) -- Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt stepped up his attack on the European Union over Brexit, saying the U.K. is “very angry” with the bloc’s attitude to the negotiations.

With less than six months to go before Brexit, talks are stalled after the EU dismissed Prime Minister Theresa May’s blueprint for a new free trade area with the bloc that would keep the U.K. close to EU rules. Hunt said this blunt rejection is not good enough, escalating the British government’s fightback against the EU’s hardline stance.

“They need to understand that we are very angry,” Hunt said in an interview on Tuesday with Bloomberg Television, at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, England. “If the EU’s view is that every time we put constructive views on the table all they have to do is say no come back with something different that’s not a negotiation.”

The 51-year-old, who took over the job after Boris Johnson resigned three months ago, was asked if he regretted comparing the EU to the Soviet Union and if he thought it would be helpful to make that comparison in getting a Brexit deal given that it’s angered some politicians in Europe.

“They have got to be very careful with their negotiating approach,” the minister argued. “If they really think that the only outcome that’s acceptable from these talks is to punish Britain for wanting to leave the club, then that’s not consistent with European ideals.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in Birmingham, England at tross54@bloomberg.net;Anna Edwards in Birmingham, England at aedwards49@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas

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