May's ex-policy chief claims Juncker aide leaked Brexit dinner details

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/22/mays-ex-policy-chief-claims-juncker-aide-leaked-brexit-dinner-details

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Theresa May’s former chief of staff has accused his old opposite number in Jean-Claude Juncker’s office of leaking details about a Brussels dinner last week, in which the prime minister and European commission president discussed Brexit.

Nick Timothy appeared to blame Martin Selmayr, Juncker’s chief of staff, for an account of the private meeting published by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

In the personal account of last Monday’s dinner, May was said to have “begged for help”, and seemed “anxious” and “tormented” as well as “despondent and discouraged”, according to FAZ.

After the dinner, a joint statement was released agreeing to accelerate Brexit talks.

And later in the week at the European council summit, EU leaders said they would begin scoping work on future trade talks while making clear to May she must make more concessions on Britain’s divorce payment for negotiations to progress.

Timothy, who worked for the prime minister at the time of the previous leak, tweeted:

After constructive Council meeting, Selmayr does this. Reminder that some in Brussels want no deal or a punitive one https://t.co/VDlhFx8bdl

Earlier this year, Selmayr was accused of leaking to FAZ details of a private dinner between May and Juncker at Downing Street, which the commission president was said to have left “10 times more sceptical” than when he arrived.