26/09/2025
๐ Michel Barnierโs verdict on
๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ ๐ช๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ง-๐ก๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ง๐๐
Michel Barnier, the EUโs chief Brexit negotiator, kept a secret diary of the talks.
Published in 2021, it revealed in painful detail why Britain lost so badly at the negotiating table.
Jonathan Powell, former Downing Street chief of staff, summed it up.
Britain was left with a โflawed withdrawal agreement and a deeply disadvantageous future relationship, both of which will cause us major problems for decades to come.โ
Barnierโs account highlights five key reasons.
โ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ. Barnier mastered every detail. Britainโs first Brexit Secretary, David Davis, turned up empty-handed. Barnier was shocked by his โnonchalantโ approach.
โก ๐๐จ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. The EU27 stood together. Britain tried to bypass Barnier by approaching individual states, but was repeatedly sent back to him.
โข ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ผ๐. The EU knew what it wanted. Britain was consumed by internal arguments. Barnier wrote that Theresa May spent more time negotiating with her own ministers than with Brussels.
โฃ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ โ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ปโ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐. Attempts to provoke or threaten the EU backfired. In 2020 David Frost cancelled talks, then humiliatingly returned a week later.
โค ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ. Theresa May triggered Article 50 without a plan. Boris Johnson agreed to a border in the Irish Sea despite knowing what it meant. At one point Barnier had to explain to MPs that โthe health of cows cannot be checked by drone.โ
Barnierโs diary makes one thing clear. Britain was out-negotiated at every turn. And the consequences are still with us.
Britain and Britons were ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐จ.
โข We had full access to the worldโs largest single market.
โข We had a seat at the table shaping the rules.
โข And we enjoyed freedoms and protections now lost, from cheaper food and travel to stronger rights at work.
Some Leave voters now say they did not get the Brexit they wanted.
But ๐ป๐ผ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐. That was not on the ballot paper. People who voted Leave could not know what they would get.
Now many of them, along with most of the country, regret the reality we ended up with.
As Jonathan Powell concluded, there should have been an inquiry into why Britain, once so proud of its diplomacy, was so utterly defeated.
Barnierโs diary may be the closest we will get.
