Britain’s relationship with EU in crisis as ministers reject Brussels demand

Britain’s relationship with the EU has been plunged into crisis after ministers rejected a demand by Brussels to drop plans to override key elements of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

At a stormy meeting in London, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic gave the UK until the end of the month to drop the controversial provisions in the Internal Market Bill or face the potential collapse of talks on a free trade agreement.

However, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove – who co-chairs a joint committee on the Withdrawal Agreement with Mr Sefcovic – said the Government was not prepared to back down.

“I explained to vice president Sefcovic that we could not and would not do that,” he told reporters following the meeting.

“I made it perfectly clear to vice president Sefcovic that we would not be withdrawing this legislation. He understood that. Of course he regretted it.”