EU wants to work with us, insists Brexit minister Robin Walker after Brussels trip

Worcester's MP was locked in talks with MEPs from nations like Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg last week under his role as a Brexit minister.

His flying visit comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 on Wednesday, firing the start of two years of crunch negotiations.

Mr Walker told the Worcester News he has returned from his trip feeling buoyed at the reception from EU officials and leading politicians.

In recent weeks some Worcestershire MEPs have said their counterparts from other countries have been particularly hostile towards them.

Mr Walker said: "What I got from them was a wide range of views on Brexit - some people were very pragmatic, while some of them were not really able to believe the result of the referendum.

"But I did get a warm response, a lot of what I got back was 'this is not what we wanted, but now it's happened we want to make it work for both sides'.

"Whether they were from Germany, Portugal, any country, they all wanted to make it work, which is very encouraging.

"The fact we've got so many wanting to make a success of this and work with us was pleasing."

Today the EU chief leading the Brexit negotiations painted a bleak picture of an "undoubtedly worse off" Britain if the two sides cannot agree a deal.

Michel Barnier said failure in the talks would lead to "severe disruption" at airports, "long queues" for tourists and lorry drivers at Dover and even "the suspension of nuclear material" to Britain.

James Carver, a Worcester-based UKIP MEP for the West Midlands, has said some leading figures in Brussels "won't ever curb their hostility" towards British politicians.

But European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker insists the EU is "EU "not in a hostile mood" ahead of the crunch negotiations.

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