World

UK ex-Brexit secretary: No deal preferable to current one

04 of March 2019

AP Photo,The flag of the European Union and the British national flags are flown on poles during a demonstration by remain in the EU outside spporters the Palace of Westminster in London, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will give British lawmakers a choice of approving her divorce agreement, leaving the EU March 29 without a deal or asking to delay Brexit by up to three months. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) — A former Brexit secretary has accused the European Union of acting dishonorably in talks with the U.K., arguing that it may make sense to leave the bloc with no deal and then negotiate future relations as an independent third country.

Dominic Raab told the BBC on Friday that the EU had “tried to bully us” by exploiting the “sensitive issue of Northern Ireland” to lock Britain into EU laws.

Raab says a no-deal Brexit is preferable to the terms that are currently on offer. He says Britain shouldn’t delay its March 29 departure because doing so would show the EU that its intransigence is paying off.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said lawmakers will get to vote on a delay if she fails to secure an agreement by March 12.