Shelagh Fogarty 1pm - 4pm
The EU wants to 'bleed UK dry,' claims caller
10 December 2020, 15:46 | Updated: 10 December 2020, 16:04
EU wants to 'bleed us dry', claims caller
This caller said that the EU wants to "bleed us dry" over Brexit, after the Prime Minister returned from Brussels last night without reaching a trade agreement.
"Very large gaps remain" between the UK and EU, despite a meeting between Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen aimed at breaking the Brexit trade deadlock, No 10 has said.
The pair have agreed to have further discussions over the next few days as they are unanimous a "firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks" by Sunday.
James from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales took umbrage with callers who branded Brexit an "English Conservative" move when a Wales voted in a significant majority to Leave, with only five areas voting Remain. He urged for the UK to "just leave", no matter what.
Read more: What does a no deal Brexit mean?
Nicola Sturgeon “deeply concerned” at the lack of clarity on Brexit
"The European Union is intransigent and doesn't want to do a deal with us by demanding 80% of our natural resources in this sea," he said, "they want the European court to decide on what happens in the United Kingdom...it's time for us to leave."
Shelagh countered that the EU does not want that particular jurisdiction at all - and the sticking points in Brexit are over specific trade terms.
"If that is the case...why did they demand 80% of our natural resources in the sea when it was at 60%?
"They are intransigent, they do not want a deal, they want to bleed us dry," he said, "they want to make us look fools of Europe...we need to walk away. Sovereignty, I don't care what it costs."
Read more: EU lays out contingency measures in the event of no-deal Brexit