Brexiteers call on May to exploit Merkel crisis

The developments in Britain took place as Michel Barnier, the EU Brexit negotiator, backed Ireland’s bid to avoid a hard border. “I know that this point is politically sensitive in the UK, it is not less sensitive in Ireland,” he said at a Centre for European Reform conference in Brussels yesterday.

...“The UK and the EU recognise that Ireland poses specific challenges and that require a specific solution,” Mr Barnier said yesterday.

“On the EU side, we must preserve the integrity of the single market and the customs union. The rules for this are clear. The UK said it would continue to apply some EU rules on its territory but not all rules.