Political expert Camilla Tominey advised the European Union to "look at their own economy" when refusing to budge from their position on controversial Irish backstop included in the Brexit withdrawal agreement. On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the country had fallen into recession after the economy had shrunk 0.2 percent while Germany growth rate recorded a 0.3 percent rate fall in the third quarter of 2018. Ms Tominey warned Brussels they are "shooting themselves in the foot" with their refusal to give in to demands from Theresa May and putting at risk trading opportunity with Britain after Brexit.
The BBC Question Time panellist said: "I think the mood music, initially, from the EU is extremely negative and ‘no, we won’t do this,’ and ‘absolutely non-negotiable,’ because that’s the key line that comes out of Brussels.
"The unfortunate things is we take that as gospel and look at it as if it is a negotiation. We can all say non, nein, etcetera, we’re not opening this.
"The EU has to look at their own economy at the moment. We’ve just heard Italy is in recession, over in Germany they’ve had the slowest growth in the last five years and actually, the growth projection is lower than thought."
Ms Tominey continued: "There’s been a report out from the IFO Institute, which is an institute of German businesses, saying the EU should be much more flexible.
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Brexit news: Ms Tominey urged the EU to agree to compromise to protect members' economies (Image: GETTY•BBC)
"It’s in danger of shooting itself in the foot if it insists on not pinkening any of its own red lines in order to get a deal. It’s important for the EU to be flexible as well."
