European Parliament slams lack of Brexit progress

Strasbourg, France

THE European Parliament harshly criticised divisions in the British government on Tuesday as it overwhelmingly backed a motion saying it was too soon to move on to the next phase of Brexit talks.

MEPs in Strasbourg voted after European Union (EU) Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the talks had made insufficient progress to unlock talks on a future trade deal because of "serious divergences" on key issues.

The non-binding vote by the parliament called on EU leaders to delay a decision on moving to the next phase, which they are due to make at a summit on October 19, unless there is a "major breakthrough".

Manfred Weber, head of the largest group in the parliament, said splits in British Prime Mi…