Another flashpoint came when May demanded that a ‘detailed outline’ of a future free-trade deal be in place before the UK agreed to pay any money to Brussels as part of the Brexit divorce deal. An EU diplomat said, ‘This was a rather incredible demand. It seemed as if it came from a parallel reality.’ The prime minister’s stance that trade must come first was met with incredulity by EU officials, who said her chief EU sherpa, Oliver Robbins, had already agreed that the methodology for agreeing the Brexit bill would be ironed out first – along with the rights of EU citizens in Britain and the
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