Luxembourg PM says UK can’t ‘have cake and eat it’ with Brexit

As the British government distanced itself from a memo that outlined the goal for London to 'have cake and eat it', Xavier Bettel said the UK could not pick and choose what it wanted when it came to the EU.

Luxembourg's prime minister Xavier Bettel is pictured at his office in Luxembourg on November 28, 2016. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

LUXEMBOURG // Luxembourg’s centre-right prime minister says Britain cannot “have its cake and eat it” and has ruled out any transitional Brexit deal with the European Union if negotiations are not completed in two years.

As the British government distanced itself from a memo that outlined the goal for London to “have cake and eat it”, Xavier Bettel said the UK could not pick and choose what it wanted.

“They want to have their cake, eat it, and get a smile from the baker, but not the other things,” Mr Bettel said on Monday evening in his office in Luxembourg.

“There are European values which cannot be separated. No cherry-picking.”

Mr Bettel’s comments came as EU leaders step up warnings that Britain cannot expect to keep access to the single market while limiting immigration by European citizens.

British prime minister Theresa May has promised to start the two-year divorce process in March 2017 but has not set out her goals, while EU leaders have refused to negotiate until she triggers Brexit.

In a glimpse of what the British strategy could be, a photographer spotted a memo in the hands of an MP’s aide, who was leaving the department for exiting the EU on Monday, which included the “have cake and eat it” aim.

It was the latest in a series of culinary Brexit metaphors with British foreign secretary Boris Johnson previously saying, “my policy on cake is pro-having it and pro-eating it”. Last month EU president Donald Tusk said: “There will be no cakes on the table for anyone, there will be only salt and vinegar.”

But the British memo also suggested that Britain will fail to keep access to the European single market and seek to keep the negotiations to two years, instead of a lengthier interim deal aimed at reducing the sudden impact of leaving.

Last week, Irish prime minister Enda Kenny raised the prospect of a transitional deal as it would be “impossible” to finish talks within the two years.

But Mr Bettel ruled out any “hybrid” arrangement.

“What would interim mean? That we are going make a hybrid status now? Either you’re a member or you’re not a member of the European Union,” the Luxembourg prime minister said.

“We are not going to make a status of ‘a little bit member’ or ‘not completely’, ‘pending divorced’, ‘nearly divorced’.”

* Agence France-Presse