Exclusive: After Grenfell fire, same builders rehired to replace dangerous cladding, Reuters finds

Exclusive: After Grenfell fire, same builders rehired to replace dangerous cladding, Reuters finds

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) – Some building companies that installed dangerous cladding on social housing blocks across Britain are now winning new contracts following the Grenfell Tower blaze to remove their original work and install panels that can pass safety tests, a Reuters review shows.

The safety of high-rise buildings has come under scrutiny since the Grenfell disaster in June which killed 71 people. The British government, which ordered a series of tests to establish which types of cladding panels met fire safety rules, said those on the London tower block did not comply.

A Reuters review identified 65 other towers with cladding of a type that was approved by local building inspectors, but which government tests found did not comply with the statutory regulations. The towers were clad by major builders including French groups Engie <ENGIE.PA> and Bouygues <BOUY.PA>, and Britain’s Galliford Try <GFRD.L>, Forrest, Wates Group, Rydon Group and Willmott Dixon.

The Reuters review was based on publicly available building planning permission documents, which detail the work carried out and the materials used, as well as visits to the towers and statements from housing providers and builders.

For 29 of the buildings, the same builders that installed the cladding have won new contracts to remove or replace the panels, according to the owners of the buildings, who said they were paying millions of pounds for the work. The rehired companies are Willmott Dixon, Wates and Engie.

Willmott Dixon and Rydon said their cladding work complied with safety regulations, but did not say how. Wates, Bouygues, Galliford Try and Engie declined to answer questions on whether their work complied with regulations.

“Following the Grenfell tragedy, we have been supporting the relevant councils, and removed the cladding where requested. Our primary concern is to ensure all residents in these buildings are secure and safe,” said an Engie spokesman.

In the wake of Grenfell, the government ordered an independent review into building regulations and fire safety, and the way the rules are complied with and enforced. The review is due to report its findings early next year.

The 65 towers in question are owned by local governments – known as councils – or housing associations, which are publicly funded, non-profit bodies that provide housing intended for low-income people.

At the time all the panels were installed, building inspectors – usually council workers but sometimes staff of inspection firms licensed by councils – signed off the work as being compliant with safety regulations, according to the owners of the blocks and the building firms involved.

Chris Blythe, CEO of trade body the Chartered Institute of Building, said builders hired to carry out high-rise cladding projects used many subcontractors and advisers, and that this could lead to misunderstandings, with one party thinking another had ensured work was compliant.

“The business model we have is almost geared up for potential failure,” said Blythe, adding that if fewer parties were involved, there would be less room for confusion over responsibilities.

For all 65 blocks identified by Reuters, the councils or council-licensed firms whose inspectors approved the work as compliant either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment while the independent review was ongoing.

The government has already acknowledged problems with the inspection process, with Fire Service Minister Nick Hurd saying in July there was a “system failure, built up over many years” in the area of regulation enforcement.

However a spokeswoman for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which ordered the cladding tests and regulations review, said sign-off by inspectors did not absolve contractors of responsibility to meet safety standards.

FIRE TESTS

Cladding systems are panels put up on the outside of buildings to improve their aesthetics and energy efficiency.

Since 2006, building regulations have required materials used in cladding on high-rise buildings to be able to pass the “BS 8414 test” which measures combustibility.

After Grenfell, the DCLG ordered a series BS 8414 tests to establish which types of cladding met fire safety rules. It said that, of around 600 social housing towers in England that had cladding, 161 had systems of a type that failed the tests. But it did not name the towers.

Reuters identified 60 blocks which, since 2006, had been cladded with aluminum panels with polyethylene cores – a form of cladding that failed the DCLG’s test, and which the prime minister and three other ministers have said breaches safety regulations when used in tall buildings. Five other blocks, also cladded since 2006, had combinations of panel and insulation board that failed the test.

The three companies that were rehired to replace the cladding on 29 of the towers had all originally fitted aluminum panels with polyethylene cores.

Wates secured contracts with Westminster council in central London and One Manchester housing association to reclad 14 towers it covered in 2007 and 2010.

Willmott Dixon has received contracts from Oxford council and west London’s Octavia housing association to replace panels it installed on three blocks early this year and in 2013.

Engie has been hired by Barnet Homes in north London to replace cladding on three blocks it clad in 2012. It also has a contract to remove cladding from nine blocks in Salford, north England, owned by the local council that it clad around 2016.

Engie has been hired to remove panels from 12 blocks it clad in 2012 and 2016, and install new cladding on three of them. The contracts are with housing associations Barnet Homes in north London, and Pendleton Together in Salford, north England.

The three building companies declined to comment on how much the contracts were worth.

However five of the six owners of the buildings told Reuters how much money they were paying for the work.

Oxford council said about 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) for its two blocks; Octavia said about 2 million pounds for one block, Westminster council said about 6 million pounds for six blocks; and Barnet Homes said 8.2 million pounds for three blocks.

Salford council said it expects to spend up to 25 million pounds in total for the removal and recladding work on nine blocks. Engie has been hired to remove its original panels, but the recladding contractor has not yet been named.

One Manchester declined to comment on how much its recladding work would cost.

The building companies declined to comment on the figures.

LEGAL ACTION

Jonathan Raynes a partner with law firm Steptoe & Johnson said councils or housing associations who paid contractors for cladding that turned out to be non-compliant could sue the contractor for the cost of replacing the cladding.

“The contract will almost certainly have a provision that says the contractor must build in accordance with statutory requirements,” he said, adding that if the contract didn’t say this, a requirement to act legally could be deemed implicit.

Raynes and Adam Creasey, a solicitor with Lewis Nedas, said the fact building inspectors signed off on work did not remove the builder’s responsibility to adhere to building regulations. Creasey added a builder could conceivably try and reclaim any money awarded against it from the body which provided the inspection sign-off.

Reuters contacted the owners of all 65 blocks with cladding of a type that failed the government tests – seven local councils and 10 housing associations – and asked if they were considering legal action against contractors to recover the money spent on cladding, or to cover the cost of replacement.

Only Camden council in north London said it was considering legal action. It declined to elaborate on its plans.

Barnet said it was not seeking any money from its contractor, Engie, over the original cladding but declined to say why. Westminster council said it was not seeking any money from its contractor, Wates, because it believed the original work was compliant with the rules in place at the time.

Oxford council said it had not sought money from Willmott Dixon over the original cladding and would only consider taking legal advice after the independent review was completed.

One Manchester said it would not talk about seeking recompense while the review was on-going.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Pravin Char)

Britons can change terms of Brexit to diverge from EU: pro-Brexit minister Gove

Britons can change terms of Brexit to diverge from EU: pro-Brexit minister Gove

By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) – British voters will be able to change the terms of the country’s relationship with the European Union after leaving the bloc if they don’t like the final Brexit deal, senior cabinet minister and pro-Brexit lawmaker Michael Gove said on Saturday.

Britain and the EU achieved “sufficient progress” in Brexit negotiations on Friday to allow them to move on to discussing future trade ties, in a move welcomed by Gove and other Brexit supporters in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party.

However, while Gove, who is Britain’s environment minister, reiterated his support for May, he gave succour to critics of the deal by saying that if Britons were dissatisfied with the terms of Brexit, future governments could change it.

“The British people will be in control. By the time of the next election, EU law and any new treaty with the EU will cease to have primacy or direct effect in UK law,” Gove wrote in a column in the Daily Telegraph.

“If the British people dislike the arrangement that we have negotiated with the EU, the agreement will allow a future government to diverge.”

Britain is due to exit the EU in March 2019. The next election is not scheduled until 2022, though there has been speculation in British media that it could come earlier, given May’s lack of a parliamentary majority and deep divisions within her party about Brexit.

Some eurosceptic voices outside the government have said that May has betrayed British “leave” voters and given in to EU demands with the agreement.

TOUGH WEEK

It has been a tough week for May after Northern Ireland’s small Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – whose support she needs in parliament – unexpectedly blocked an initial deal on Monday, leaving Britain and the EU scrambling to find wording acceptable to all sides ahead of next week’s summit of EU leaders.

While agreement was eventually reached on Friday, Gove said that all UK proposals were provisional on a final deal being done, and even then, that arrangement could be revisited by future governments.

Matthew Parris, an anti-Brexit columnist and former Conservative lawmaker, told BBC radio that Gove might envisage a situation in which he would be spearheading a new approach to Brexit.

But Gove, who was briefly in the running to lead the party last year, praised May on Saturday, and said the deal was a result of her “tenacity and skill”.

Fellow pro-Brexit cabinet colleague Andrea Leadsom defended his comments, saying it did not imply that May would be replaced before the next election.

“It’s simply the case that in taking back control (from Brussels)… it will be for the voters to determine what future governments do,” Leadsom told BBC radio. “I think it is a statement of the obvious.”

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Britain and EU clinch Brexit ‘breakthrough’ with move to trade talks

Britain and EU clinch Brexit 'breakthrough' with move to trade talks

By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union struck a divorce deal on Friday that paves the way for arduous trade talks, easing immediate pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May and boosting hopes of an orderly Brexit.

May rushed to Brussels before dawn to seal European Commission agreement that “sufficient progress” had been made to begin talks about trade and a two-year Brexit transition period that will start when Britain leaves the EU on March 29, 2019.

Negotiators in London, Brussels and Dublin worked through the night before breaking an impasse over the status of the Irish border, the last major obstacle to the opening of trade talks which EU leaders are due to bless at summit on Dec. 14-15.

Speaking before sunrise at the EU’s executive headquarters in Brussels after a hurried flight on a Royal Air Force plane, May said opening up trade talks would bring certainty for citizens and businesses about Britain’s future after quitting the EU.

“The most difficult challenge is still ahead,” European Council President Donald Tusk cautioned. “We all know that breaking up is hard. But breaking up and building a new relationship is much harder.”

May, looking weary after just a couple of hours sleep, spoke after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the breakthrough first in English and then in German and French.

The move to trade talks 18 months after the United Kingdom’s shock vote to exit the EU allayed some fears of a disorderly Brexit that could disrupt trade between the world’s biggest trading bloc and its sixth-largest national economy.

Sterling climbed to a six-month high against the euro <EURGBP=D3> on Friday before it fell back around midday to sit broadly flat, with one euro worth 87.4 pence, while bond yields across the euro zone rose. Against the U.S. dollar <GBP=D3> the pound also weakened.

BREXIT DIVORCE?

Facing 27 other members of the bloc, May largely conceded to the EU on structure, timetable and substance of the negotiations.

Moving to talks about trade and a Brexit transition was crucial for May’s own future after her premiership was thrown into doubt when she lost the ruling Conservative Party its majority in a snap election in June, unwisely called.

“I very much welcome the prospect of moving ahead,” said May, a 61-year-old Anglican vicar’s daughter who herself voted to stay in the EU in a referendum in June 2016 but has repeatedly insisted Britain will make a success of Brexit.

One senior British banker said the deal signaled that May would stay in power for now and that Britain was heading towards a much closer post-Brexit relationship with the EU than many had feared.

Draft guidelines showed the transition period, which would start on March 29, 2019, would last around two years. During that time, Britain will remain part of the customs union and single market but will no longer take part in EU institutions or have a vote.

It will also still be subject to EU law.

Pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers rallied around her after the overnight deal, a possible signal that the party – which has been split over EU membership for generations – was not preparing to ditch her immediately despite the June election fiasco.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who spearheaded the Brexit campaign, congratulated May, adding that Britain would now take back control of its laws, money and borders.

Supporters of a radical Brexit were tougher.

Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage struck a jarring note saying it was extraordinary a British premier had conceded so much in the middle of the night, agreeing to all the demands of Juncker, Tusk and EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

“The British prime minister has to fly through the middle of the night to go and meet three unelected people, who condescendingly say: ‘Now jolly well done May, you’ve met every single one of our demands, thank you very much, we can now move on to the next stage’.”

“BREAKTHROUGH”

The EU had insisted it would only move to trade talks if there was enough progress on three key issues: the money Britain must pay to the EU; rights for EU citizens in Britain and British citizens in the EU; and how to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

“I believe we have now made the breakthrough we needed,” Juncker said.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said it was not possible to put a concrete figure on the amount of money Britain will have to pay. Britain has said the divorce bill will cost it between 35 and 39 billion pounds.

On citizens rights, London and Brussels agreed to offer equal treatment on social security, health care, employment and education and that Britain will enable its judges to ask the European Court of Justice to weigh in when necessary for eight years after Brexit.

But the crucial breakthrough was on the future of the 310-mile (500 kms) UK-EU land border on the island of Ireland. The Northern Irish party which props up May’s minority government vetoed a draft deal on Monday.

May worked through most of the night, grabbing just a couple of hours sleep, as she worked the phones from Downing Street to secure agreement from Dublin, Brussels and the Democratic Unionist Party for her deal on the border.

They agreed to avoid a hard border which might upset the peace established after decades of violence, but said the details would be agreed as part of talks about the future relationship, according to a 15-page negotiators report.

In the text, Britain agreed that should London and Brussels fail to agree a final Brexit deal, the United Kingdom will maintain “full alignment” with those rules of the internal market and customs union that help protect north-south cooperation in Ireland.

“In all circumstances, the United Kingdom will continue to ensure the same unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s businesses to the whole of the United Kingdom internal market,” it said. .

The Democratic Unionist Party gave only a conditional endorsement of the new terms, four days after 11th-hour objections from Belfast scuppered May’s attempt to sign off on an accord over the Irish border.

“We cautioned the Prime Minister about proceeding with this agreement in its present form given the issues which still need to be resolved,” Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster said.

“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and how we vote on the final deal will depend on its contents.”

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton in London; Additional reporting by Alistair Smout, William James, Costas Pitas and Andrew MacAskill in London, Padraic Halpin in Dublin, and; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Briton accused of terrorism offences posted picture of Prince George: court

LONDON (Reuters) – A British man posted a picture of Prince George, 4, and the address of his London school as part of a series of possible targets for Islamist militants, a court heard on Wednesday.

Husnain Rashid, 31, is accused of posting information on the Telegram messaging service to encourage jihadis to carry out attacks along with information to help them with possible targets such as stadia.

Prosecutor Rebecca Mundy told London’s Westminster Magistrates Court that this included posting a picture of Prince George, son of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince William and Kate and destined to be the future king, next to a silhouette of a jihadi fighter.

The post included the address of his school in southwest London which he started attending in September and was accompanied with the caption “even the royal family will not be left alone”, the court heard.

Rashid, from Nelson in Lancashire, northern England, is charged with preparing terrorism acts, which involved plans to travel to Syria to engage in fighting, and preparing to assist others to commit terrorist acts.

He did not apply for bail and indicated he would plead not guilty to the charges. He was remanded in custody until Dec. 20 when he will appear at London’s Old Bailey central criminal court.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)

Britain preparing to transfer 400 million pounds to Iran – Telegraph newspaper

Britain preparing to transfer 400 million pounds to Iran - Telegraph newspaper

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is preparing to transfer over 400 million pounds ($527 million) to Iran as it seeks the release of a jailed Iranian-British aid worker, The Telegraph newspaper reported, citing unidentified British sources.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was sentenced to five years after being convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. She denies the charges.

Britain has sought legal advice over whether it could transfer the funds which it owes as a result of a disputed arms deal in the 1970s. Diplomats told the newspaper that any payment should not be linked to the fate of Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity organization that is independent of Thomson Reuters. It operates independently of Reuters News.

A spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Office could not be reached for comment out of normal business hours.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Kate Holton)

Britain, Russia clash over Syria at chemical weapons body

Britain, Russia clash over Syria at chemical weapons body

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Britain accused Russia on Thursday of carrying out a “thinly veiled political attack” against the head of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog, escalating a row over the body’s investigation into toxic attacks in Syria.

The comments, made during a session at the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), were the latest sign of deep political division at the body over the Syrian conflict.

In an Oct. 26 report the U.N.-OPCW investigation team blamed the Syrian government for an April 4 attack using the banned nerve agent sarin in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing around 80 people. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons and Moscow rejected the findings.

The mechanism was established in 2015 by the U.N. Security Council to identify individuals, organizations or governments responsible for chemical attacks in Syria. Its mandate expires on Nov. 17, but its work is incomplete.

Moscow is poised to veto efforts by Britain, France, Germany and the United States to extend the mandate.

A draft Russian-Iranian proposal circulated at the OPCW and seen by Reuters called for a new investigation, to be based on samples taken from the attack site. The Syrian government itself has already presented samples from the scene to the investigation team, which tested positive for sarin.

“It is a thinly veiled political attack on the professional integrity of the director general,” the British delegation said in a statement, referring to the OPCW’s outgoing Turkish head, Ahmet Uzumcu. “It seeks to undermine the capability and competence of the (OPCW).”

The Russian delegation at the OPCW could not be reached for comment.

Syria joined the OPCW after a sarin attack on Aug. 21, 2013, killed hundreds of people in Ghouta, a district on the outskirts of Damascus. It has said it declared and destroyed all its chemical stockpile, but chemical attacks continue in the country’s civil war [L4N1L24LP].

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Iran displays missile, thousands march in marking 1979 U.S. embassy takeover

Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012, a day before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

By Babak Dehghanpisheh

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iran put a ballistic missile on display as thousands marched on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy, with a senior official accusing President Donald Trump of a “crazy” return to confrontation with Tehran.

Turnout for the annual Iranian street rallies commemorating the embassy takeover, a pivotal event of the Islamic Revolution, appeared higher than in recent years when Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama pursued detente with Tehran.

Last month, Trump broke ranks with European allies, Russia and China by refusing to re-certify Iran’s compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, reached during Obama’s tenure. Under that deal, most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing nuclear activity seen to pose a risk of being put to developing atomic bombs.

Iran has reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and U.N. inspectors have verified Tehran is complying with its terms, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened to “shred” the pact if the United States pulls out.

“All the governments confirm that the American president is a crazy individual who is taking others toward the direction of suicide,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told a rally in Tehran, state media reported.

“Trump’s policies against the people of Iran have brought them out into the streets today,” Shamkhani said.

He did not identify the governments he had in mind. The other parties to the nuclear deal – Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – have voiced disquiet at Trump’s opposition to it, fearing this could stir new Middle East instability.

But the Europeans share U.S. concern over Iran’s ballistic missile program and “destabilizing” regional behavior.

 

NOT NEGOTIABLE

Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly said that the Islamic Republic’s missile program is solely defensive in nature and is not negotiable.

In a sign of defiance, a Ghadr ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) was put on display near the ex-U.S. embassy in Tehran, now a cultural center, during Saturday’s street demonstration, Tasnim news agency said.

“That America thinks Iran is going to put aside its military power is a childish dream,” said Brigadier General Hossein Salami, deputy head of its elite Revolutionary Guards which oversees the missile development, according to Tasnim.

Fars news agency posted pictures of demonstrators nearby burning an effigy of Trump and holding up signs saying “Death to America”.

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations soon after the 1979 revolution, during which hardline students seized the embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Shamkhani spoke a few days after Khamenei said the United States was the “number one enemy” of the Islamic Republic.

U.S.-Iranian tensions have risen anew at a time when Tehran has been improving political and military ties with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran on Wednesday. Khamenei told him that Tehran and Moscow must step up cooperation to isolate the United States and help defuse conflict in the Middle East.

Iran and Russia are both fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al Assad against rebels, some of them U.S.-backed, and Islamist militants trying to overthrow him.

 

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; editing by Mark Heinrich)

 

Supreme Leader Khamenei says U.S. is Iran’s ‘number one enemy’

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves as he arrives to deliver a speech in Tehran, Iran, November 2, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS

By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA (Reuters) – The United States is Iran’s “number one enemy” and Tehran will never succumb to Washington’s pressure over a multinational nuclear deal, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers last month by refusing to formally certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal. Under that deal, most sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear work.

“The American president’s foolish remarks against our people show the depth of America’s hostility towards the entire Iranian nation,” Iran’s top authority Khamenei told a group of students.

“America is the number one enemy of our nation.”

Since the deal was reached in 2015, Khamenei has continued to denounce the United States publicly, suggesting that antagonism between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran would not abate because of the accord.

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties shortly after the revolution, when hardline students took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iran will mark the anniversary of the American embassy seizure on Saturday.

Trump has called the nuclear agreement, which was reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, “the worst deal ever negotiated” and has adopted a harsh approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran over its missile activity, calling on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans and its missile program is solely for defense purposes.

The deal’s other signatories, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, and the European Union say Washington cannot unilaterally cancel an international accord enshrined by a U.N. resolution.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would stick to the nuclear accord as long as the other signatories respected it. But it has warned about the consequences if the deal falls apart.

“We will never accept their bullying over the nuclear deal … Americans are using all the wickedness to damage the result of the nuclear talks,” Khamenei said to chants of “Death to America” by students.

“Any retreat by Iran will make America more blatant and impudent … Resistance is the only option.”

Trump also accuses Iran of supporting terrorism in the Middle East. Iran rejects that and in turn blames the growth of militant groups such as Islamic State on the policies of the United States and its regional allies.

Shi’ite-dominated Iran and its regional arch-rival, U.S.-backed Sunni Saudi Arabia, are involved in proxy wars across the region, backing opposite sides in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.

 

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Catherine Evans)

 

Britain’s May urges EU to break deadlock in Brexit talks

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (C) attends the EU summit in Brussels, Belgium October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

By Elizabeth Piper and Alastair Macdonald

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May urged the European Union on Thursday to break the deadlock and move forward with Brexit talks, asking the bloc’s leaders to respond with “urgency” on easing the fears of their citizens living in Britain.

Arriving at a two-day summit in Brussels with other EU leaders, May sought to lower any remaining expectation that she could win a breakthrough in the talks to unravel more than 40 years of union. Instead, she turned the focus to making progress in the coming weeks, particularly on citizens’ rights.

Weakened by losing her Conservative Party’s majority in a June election and failing to rally support at an ill-fated party conference, May cannot move on the EU’s insistence on increasing her pay offer for the divorce agreement.

She is hamstrung by demands in her own party for her to walk away unless the EU agrees to moving the talks forward to discuss trade, and Germany which does not want to be left with a large bill when Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.

“We’ll … be looking at the concrete progress that has been made in our exit negotiations and setting out ambitious plans for the weeks ahead. I particularly, for example, want to see an urgency in reaching an agreement on citizens’ rights,” May told reporters.

But she avoided questions about increasing the amount Britain is willing to pay when it leaves the EU, instead referring back to a speech last month in Italy when she outlined an offer of around 20 billion euros ($24 billion) to try to improve the tone.

“That speech … set out that ambitious vision and I look forward to us being able to progress that in the weeks ahead,” she said.

Without a new offer on the money, May has attempted to change the focus by offering concessions on the protection of the rights of around 3 million EU citizens living in Britain, promising to make it as easy as possible for them to stay.

On her Facebook page, May wrote that “we are in touching distance of agreement” and asked the EU to show the “flexibility and creativity” to secure a deal in the coming weeks.

While welcome, this is unlikely to alter the outcome of the Brussels summit, where on Friday morning, when May has left, the bloc is expected to say the Brexit talks had not yet made enough progress for them to open the post-Brexit trade negotiations.

CHANGE OF TACK

That lack of movement has increased the pressure on May from her own party, particularly a small number of Brexit campaigners who have long said that the prime minister should walk away from the talks if the EU did not move them forward.

In an open letter to May on Thursday, pro-Brexit lawmakers and business people said that unless the talks moved to trade, Britain should signal it is ready to be subject to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules from March 30, 2019, when Brexit takes effect.

The government says it does not want to crash out of the EU and is working to secure a deal. But comments that ministers are planning for the possibility of a no deal have been pounced on by the Britain’s main opposition Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn, whose party has matched and sometimes beats May’s Conservatives in the opinion polls, arrived in Brussels on Thursday to meet EU lawmakers to try to break “the Brexit logjam” created by what he called government “bungling”.

Seen as having little chance of becoming prime minister last year, Corbyn is now being listened to in Brussels and was due to meet the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and other officials on Thursday.

Recognising May’s position at home, EU leaders are expected to make a “gesture” by telling EU staff to prepare for talks on a transition period needed to ease uncertainty for business. But they warn there is still a lot to be done.

“We have to work really hard between October and December to finalise this so-called first phase and to start negotiating on our future relationship with the UK,” Donald Tusk, the chairman of EU leaders, said on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.8454 euros)

(additional reporting by William James and Estelle Shirbon in London, Philip Blenkinsop and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Alison Williams)

‘They have to pay’, EU’s Juncker says of Britain

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker listens at a news conference during the European Union Tallinn Digital Summit in Tallinn, Estonia, September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Britain must commit to paying what it owes to the European Union before talks can begin about a future relationship with the bloc after Brexit, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday.

“The British are discovering, as we are, day after day new problems. That’s the reason why this process will take longer than initially thought,” Juncker said in a speech to students in his native Luxembourg.

“We cannot find for the time being a real compromise as far as the remaining financial commitments of the UK are concerned. As we are not able to do this we will not be able to say in the European Council in October that now we can move to the second phase of negotiations,” Juncker said.

“They have to pay, they have to pay, not in an impossible way. I’m not in a revenge mood. I’m not hating the British.”

The EU has told Britain that a summit next week will conclude that insufficient progress has been made in talks for Brussels to open negotiations on a future trade deal. London has been hoping and pressing for this to happen at the summit.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)