Theresa May demands respect from EU over Brexit as pound falls

Theresa May has accused the European Union of not treating the UK with respect in a deliberately combative address that prompted a sharp fall in the pound amid fears that it made a no deal Brexit more likely.

Twenty-four hours after her Salzburg humiliation, the prime minister gave a hastily arranged televised Downing Street statement in an effort to reassert herself.

Going on the offensive, she blamed EU leaders for the “impasse” in negotiations, a phrase that spooked the currency markets and led sterling to fall 1.5% against the dollar, its biggest one day drop this year.

Speaking from a lectern with two union flags behind her, May tried to accuse her counterparts of bad faith: “I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. A good relationship at the end of this process depends on it.”

Her remarks came a day after the Salzburg summit where EU leaders frustrated by May’s insistence on sticking rigidly to her controversial Chequers negotiating plan embarrassed her when the EU council president, Donald Tusk, unexpectedly declared it “would not work”

May retaliated on Friday: “Yesterday,Donald Tusk said our proposals would undermine the single market. He didn’t explain how in any detail or make any counter-proposal. So we are at an impasse.” She called on the EU to spell out “what their alternative is”