Olly Robbins Has Been An Absolute Disaster For Brexit: Iain Dale
7 June 2018, 17:14 | Updated: 7 June 2018, 18:15
Theresa May’s top Brexit civil servant has been an absolute disaster when it comes to dealing with the EU, Iain Dale has said.
The LBC presenter accused Olly Robbins of simply wanting to “give in on everything”.
It’s after the Prime Minister and David Davis came to blows over a Brexit backdrop plan drawn up by Mr Robbins which did not include an end date.
Mrs May was accused of trying to tie the UK to the EU customs union indefinitely with speculation the Brexit secretary would resign unless a date was included.
Following a crunch meeting on Thursday, Downing Street announced it expects such plan to finish by the end of 2021.
And summing up the debacle, Iain took aim at the PM’s top Brexit civil servant.
He said: "One of the downsides of what's happened here is that Michel Barnier when he holds his press conference reacting to this customs document... the problem that he will have is and he may well say: 'Who am I negotiating with? Am I negotiating with Olly Robbins the civil servant or am I negotiating with David Davis?'
"Now the answer ought to be David Davis and I think some people think that as a result of this David Davis has slightly rested back the control from Olly Robbins and in a sense he should do.
"He is the politician, he is the one that's accountable to Parliament - not the civil servant Olly Robbins.
"From what I can see Olly Robbins has been an absolute disaster in dealing with the EU because he seems to want to give in on virtually everything."
Watch above.
