EC President Donald Tusk accuses British PM Johnson of playing “stupid blame game”

 The president of the European Council has accused Boris Johnson of playing a “stupid blame game” in Brexit talks and not really wanting a deal.

In an ill-tempered statement on Tuesday Donald Tusk accused the UK prime minister of failing to act in the best interests of the British public.

.@BorisJohnson, what’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game. At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people. You don’t want a deal, you don’t want an extension, you don’t want to revoke, quo vadis?

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 8, 2019

Donald Tusk, the European council president, tweeted directly at Johnson: “What’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game. At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people. You don’t want a deal, you don’t want an extension, you don’t want to revoke, quo vadis? [Where are you going?]”

Earlier, Downing Street sources claimed German chancellor Angela Merkel had made clear that an agreement was now “overwhelmingly unlikely”. Following a telephone call with Boris Johnson, she was said to have insisted the Irish must have a veto over Northern Ireland leaving the customs union.

The claims provoked a furious response from European Council President Donald Tusk who accused him of jeopardising the future security of the EU and the UK.

The Independent / The Guardian / The National Scot