Brexiteers celebrate ‘victory’ in trade talks... because they’ll be in English

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a centre for homelessness. Photograph: Tim Clarke/DailyExpress/PA Wire.

Pro-Brexit newspapers have been mocked for claiming a ‘victory’ in the Brexit talks, because they will be discussed and written up in English.

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The Express reported a "Brexit victory" as the European Union will be made to pay for translations from English to French, while The Sun reports that "Britain lands early win on trade talks".

The newspaper says that "as persuading the EU to conduct them in English, the head of the PM's team, David Frost, has ensured that if officials want to speak in French, they must pay the interpreters' bills."

Only in "justified circumstances" will the eleven separate teams be allowed to alternate to French.

"The EU will also have to spend cash translating any joint document into the bloc's 24 official languages with the originals set to be published in English," says an Express report.

The hyperbole surrounding the news has been mocked by pro-Europeans on social media.

"What a magnificent victory", joked one.

"Satire is dead," tweeted another.

"Setting the bar for 'winning' very low, very early," acknowledged Jimmy Johnson.

"Alternatively: EU kindly agrees to enable talks by holding them in English", tweeted David Langtry.

"That's not a win, that's admitting a weakness!" wrote Alison Graham.

"Quite incredible that this should be seen as a 'win'," wrote Alastair Campbell. "Underlines the UK's disgraceful indifference to the language of others but also most of those the government will be dealing with speak flawless English and understand the issues way better than, say, Dominic Raab".

"The EU Trade Commissioner is Irish, so I fail to see how negotiating in English is a big win for the UK," posted Trevor Donnellan.

"How can these lunatics not see the EU laughing up their sleeves. We have to have the talks in English because of our lack of basic multilingualism. Shocking display of hubris," tweeted Matthew Hisbent.

"And it will be much harder for the UK to weasel out of any agreements when it is written in English," pointed out @stevesitmail. "They can't claim issues in translation as an excuse."

"Yeh, that'll ensure that pharmacies have supplies of insulin," responded Annie Glen to a tweet from The Sun.

"Absolute state of this..." said another.