The British government are attempting to minimise the damage done by Brexit

A leading Government negotiator on Brexit has said that there is a realisation in the UK that the decision to leave the EU was an “act of great self-harm”.

John Callinan, the Government’s leading official on Brexit, told a union conference that there was a dawning realisation in the UK that Brexit was an error and that UK politicians were now focussed on trying to minimise the damage.

Mr Callinan was speaking at a Brexit seminar organised by the trades unions Unite and Impact. As the second secretary-general at the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Callinan has intimate knowledge of how negotiations have been developing.

He also said there was evidence of strongly divergent views within the British administration. He added there were “oversimplistic views of what Brexit is and what it will do to Britain” in the context of wider public debate.

Mr Callinan said hthe Government was relatively pleased that Ireland had been specifically mentioned in the negotiating guidelines outlines by the EU earlier this mnth. However, he added "It’s a good start, but we’re at the very beginning of a difficult and challenging negotiation process."

Online Editors