UK fumes at ‘insulting’ post about Brexit plan

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday accused EU Council President Donald Tusk of “insulting the British people” by needling Prime Minister Theresa May in a viral social media post.

Tusk created a mini-sensation during a difficult EU summit on Brexit in Salzburg by posting a photo on Instagram of himself offering May a tray of cakes. “A piece of cake, perhaps?” Tusk wrote alongside the picture. “Sorry, no cherries.” The comment was a biting reference to accusations by Brussels that May was “cherry-picking” the best parts of EU membership while leaving the bloc. Her divorce proposal envisions a UK-EU free trade area for goods through a common rulebook. But it would abandon the bloc’s right to the free movement of people and see Britain adopt its own migration policy.

The EU wants to make sure the remaining 27 members do not follow Britain’s example by trying to leave while preserving the benefits of free trade. May’s plan was rebuffed in Salzburg on Thursday and Tusk’s post only added to what several British newspapers called her “humiliation”. The prime minister tried to regain her footing by delivering a tough television address on Friday demanding that Britain be treated with “respect”.

That message was picked up and taken a step further by Hunt in an appearance on the BBC’s Today radio programme on Saturday. “Don’t mistake British politeness for weakness,” Hunt said. “We need to get the tone right and insulting her, insulting the British people on social media, getting into these standoffs where you’re calling people liars and so on is not the way we are going to find a solution to this difficult situation.” Tusk issued a statement on Friday evening calling himself “a close friend of the UK and a true admirer of PM May”.