Brexit: Theresa May’s deal is ‘only option’ for Tory leadership candidates to avoid no deal, says Barnier

Most leadership candidates had hoped they could renegotiate the withdrawal agreement

Theresa May’s Brexit agreement is the “only option” if the UK wants to avoid leaving the EU without a deal, Michel Barnier has warned Tory leadership candidates.

The EU’s chief negotiator’s comments are the latest warning from Brussels that it will not reopen talks, despite most of those vying to succeed Theresa May putting the move at the centre of their leadership platforms.

“If the UK wants to leave in an orderly manner, this treaty is the only option. If the choice is to leave without a deal – fine. If the choice is to stay in the EU – also fine,” Mr Barnier told the New York Review of Books in an interview.

“But if the choice is still to leave the EU in an orderly manner, this treaty is the only option. This is all that our legal constraints allow.”

Mr Barnier reiterated the EU position that he was happy to look at “alternative arrangements” for the Northern Ireland border immediately, citing “technology, drones, invisible controls” – but only after the controversial border backstop was put in place.

“The backstop is insurance, in case we do not find this solution,” Mr Barnier told the US magazine.

He added: “You cannot leave the EU, the single market, the customs union, and ask for no checks and controls at the same time.

The EU has consistently said since the deal was signed last year that it could not be renegotiated, and rebuffed attempts from Theresa May to reopen it in any significant way.

The bloc’s negotiators have, however, made clear that they see the question of further talks on the withdrawal agreement as a separate issue from the future relationship, which they are willing to amend to include a customs union or single market membership.

Boris Johnson has said Britain will leave with or without a deal in October (Reuters)

Mr Barnier also blamed in part nostalgia for a time when Britain was a “powerful” and “global” nation for the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

“Looking at the causes of Brexit, we also find typically British reasons: the hope for a return to a powerful global Britain, nostalgia for the past-nostalgia serves no purpose in politics.

“In my country, too, some politicians still prefer to live in the past. But there were, also, people voting for Brexit who simply don't want to accept rules.

“Some based in the City of London voted to leave, as they don't want to accept the Union's regulations on their trading; they want to speculate freely and the Union doesn't allow them to do so.

“Finally, and most importantly, there are many people who feel abandoned. They feel that the quality of public services, healthcare, transport, is worsening. We must listen to these fears and address them.”

Mr Barnier’s intervention comes 48 hours after Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said he had been “crystal clear” that there would be not more negotiations.

The EU has also split up the team that negotiated Ms May’s Brexit deal, with the withdrawal agreement’s author Sabine Weyand moving to another job and Mr Barnier thought to be eyeing up a post as president of the European Commission – apparently a sign that talks on it are closed.

Frontrunner Boris Johnson said the UK would leave on 31 October, deal or no deal, while even moderate contender Jeremy Hunt said he would send a negotiating team back to Brussels threatening no deal.