e “wee“: “a britain even position britain even outside the eu, asa position britain even outside the eu, as a big supporter of the eu, wanting a good relationship with the eu. no threats from the prime minister, no statements such as no deal is better than a bad deal. the prime minister is trying to set the tone for these talks as they get underway, and trying to create an amicable environment in which they get underway. whether that succeeds or not is another matter. let's get reaction from laura kuenssberg, our political editor, who was listening to overlap. the key thing about this is exactly as you say. the tone is a world away from theresa may's conference speech in october when she was much more strident as people sought, then the lancaster house speech when she had become much more friendly to countries around the eu. she made that speech to the room of diplomats. that speech, that threat to walk away if that did not happen. and here, some people might say

pragmatic, much more conciliatory, lots of language european values. let me dust interrupted you, sorry to be so rude, but donald tusk is now speaking in brussels. let's hear what he has got to say. for me... we would like to hear what he has got to say but we cannot hear him!| he has got to say but we cannot hear him! ithink he has got to say but we cannot hear him! i think interrupting laura kuenssberg in full flight to listen toa man kuenssberg in full flight to listen to a man we cannot hear is unforgivable and i apologise! there is the bold threat that no deal is better than a bad deal. what one

senior mp was saying is the challenge for theresa may today is to seem resolute but also constructive, to be the iron fist in the velvet glove. i think the tone of this letter is very much velvet glove. we might now be able to hear donald tusk. this is the head of the council of ministers in brussels. in essence, this is about damage control. our goal is clear. to minimise the cost for the eu citizens, businesses and member states. we will do everything in our power and we have all the tools to achieve this goal. and what we should stress today is that as for now, nothing has changed. until the

united kingdom leaves the european union, eu law will continue to apply as well and within europe. finally, i would like to say that we have just released an official statement by the european council, in which we stress that we will act as one and start negotiations by focusing on key arrangements for an orderly withdrawal. on friday, i will share a proposal on the negotiating guidelines with the member states, to be updated by the european council on the 29th of april. i will refer to this and i will commend our proposals on friday during our press conference with prime minister joseph muscat in malta. what can i

add to this? thank you and goodbye. donald tusk though the president of the council of europe which contains all 28 members of the eu. they meet there as heads of state or heads of government, in a sombre, almost sad mood there on receiving britain's article 50 application to begin the process of withdrawal of the european union. there was no talk thereof punishment beatings or of being angry, because britain is leaving. sad, it was clear but not angen leaving. sad, it was clear but not anger. he talked of damage control, that he wanted, that the job of the eu 27 was to control the damage that britain's withdrawal of the european union could do to them remaining 27 members. he said the council of

europe would act as one in the negotiations. what will happen now is mr tusk has drawn up some guidelines for the eu 27's negotiating position. they will become public. they will be debated within the 27 and the heads of state and heads of government of the eu 27 will meet towards the end of april, i think the 28th or the 29th of april and they will then endorse the bargaining position of the eu 27 as they begin negotiations probably sometime, i doubt before the end of may or earlyjune. the actual negotiations when michel barnier, who will be tasked with carrying out these negotiating positions, will meet with david davis the secretary of state for brexit. so again, just as the prime minister's tone was interesting in the commons, so donald tusk‘s tone was interesting in the press conference he just gave in brussels. of course, many people in london suspected mr tusk would be

something of an ally in these negotiations. he wants to get a deal done. he is polish and he said all 27 would have the same position but we know there are differences of emphasis between the original members of the treaty of rome and the eastern european members who came late to the game. they in particular want a deal done on eu nationals living in the united kingdom. theresa villiers, what has been the reaction to the prime minister's statement and donald tusk? i think both are trying to be positive and set a constructive tone, that that reflects a recognition that these negotiations could leave both sides better. it does not have to be a o—sum game. it is in the interests of the eu and uk that we come out of this flourishing. it is a symbolic

moment, the pulling of the trigger but something of an anti—climax because she was restating the pub for months as we knew from the white paper. you do get the irony of take back control, you now get the attention very much on donald tusk andjunk and attention very much on donald tusk and junk and others on what will be their negotiating stance —— jean—claude juncker. this will be on what the reaction to the referendum will be and i am very worried because the tone we heard from donald task was one of regret —— donald task was one of regret —— donald tusk. they also recognise politically that to glue the rest of the eu together, they have to make sure that britain does not prosper as well outside the eu as it would inside the eu. they said apart from the fact they will approach these

talks constructively, the uk and eu will approach as one. what sort of union is it that if somebody wants to leave, they will give it about time somebody else leaves?” obviously want britain to do the best possible thing and we have to champion the negotiations, but if the eu is already under strain they wa nt the eu is already under strain they want to glue it all together. let's just stand back. the geopolitics of this does not get enough coverage. to the east it faces a group of autocrats come dictators who are threatening its borders in various ways from hard or soft power, to the west it faces are hostile american administration, for the first time ever an administration that doesn't seem to care about the eu whether it lives or dies. to the south it faces

a continued outflow and carnage from the arab spring and the huge refugee problem that has brought. when you look at the eu on three sides, why would you then pick a fight with britain? you picked the right way of characterising it. iwas britain? you picked the right way of characterising it. i was in germany la st characterising it. i was in germany last week and they put brexit in the same basket with all these other threats and challenges, it isjust for them one of many. the mood i picked up was they are trying to glue each other together. in doing so, that might mean proving that you are better off staying within the european union. that i worry about because i think they will have to illustrate that we are losing out. the european union may well come to the view that for at least two of the view that for at least two of the three problems it faces, it really needs help. it needs britain's help on the security front for its eastern border and it needs britain's help to try, as they would

sit, get some sense out of the trump administration. again, why would you wa nt to administration. again, why would you want to pick a fight? they are trying to appeal to countries on an individual basis they will be absolutely looking at they will be absolutely looking at the 27 countries around the table and they will be looking at the individual agendas, all of the individual agendas, all of the individual ways in which they can be persuaded that they need britain. that is why we need so much out of brussels about the importance of sticking together. what britain wa nts to sticking together. what britain wants to do is go around. one minister put it like this, the further you go from brussels, the more optimistic i feel, about getting a deal that works for us. that is one of the tactics they will

employ. security gets a prominent mention in this letter. i remember the first summit theresa may went to as prime minister in the short window she was given to speak at the end of the dinner. she tried at that early stage to nudge the leaders gathered there to start thinking about security. most of the focus has been on trade but number ten has been trying to edge them to think about security as well, partly because it is so important. also, thatis because it is so important. also, that is an area where theresa may as a politician feels more comfortable because of her background as home secretary. there is also increasing resentment in the eastern european countries that too much is determined by the original treaty of rome countries. they have a different perspective. we do know something is already about the eu position because michel barnier helpfully wrote an article in the financial times this week. one is he

wa nted financial times this week. one is he wanted a deal on reciprocal rights by eu citizens in the uk and uk citizens in the eu and he wanted it done quickly. is that looking likely? i think there is a hope on both sides that it can be done. one of the interesting things that were suggested to me as had theresa may broached this early on with european council, rather than going to and chloe markle —— rather than going to angela merkel, she might have been able to get it off the table. what they have been determined to see is they have been determined to see is the proper processes, that it was not possible for angela merkel to say yes or no to, to anything as an individual item. it seems on both sides there is a desire to get this done and get it off the table. every politician has on its own countries people who are anxious. it is hard to see the advantage to anyone in playing this long. one of the early priorities for the

british government. the other priority which reads through almost every line of this letter is there hope to be able to get both aspects of this done at the same time, to be able to talk about withdrawal, the divorce if you like, as well as the future trade deal. the british government, reciprocal rights, that may come good, what you have just moved on to, that could come bad? that could combat and this is likely to be the first really big fight. it is known as parallelism known as sequentially sermon. 0h, is known as parallelism known as sequentially sermon. oh, my goodness! i have mentioned it on air on other programmes in the past so i thought it was only right to use that snappy phrase as well will stop the british government is determined that we talk about all of this stuff about how we leave and what happens

afterwards at the same time. in brussels, not necessarily in every european capital, but in brussels, they wanted tie—up the divorce, to get that all done to settle the cash before they start talking about the next bit. the two documents which have come out so far today, the 6—page letterfrom have come out so far today, the 6—page letter from the prime minister and the short response from the european council display how much they are at odds. the british hope is to agree the principles of the divorce deal so they can get on with the rest of it. they are likely —— that is likely to be the first fight, not least because the exit bill, how much we need to pay to get out as part of that discussion. what about the draft resolution? it has been leaked and it does have a slightly tougher tone to it and response than we have heard so far from theresa may or donald tusk

about the timescale for the trade deal and a transition arrangement? said the european parliament has magically managed to put into the public domain in their early response to the letter, it is not as if they are trying to get into this process and give themselves a more prominent role. they do have a role but they are not in the driving seat on this. there are plenty of people around the players who do want to make it hard, to make it tough. —— around the place. just a couple of things briefly and then we will bring others in. taking out from the letter. the main difference is all about tone but a couple of things

are significant. it says plainly the government wants early agreement on phased instrumentation. ministers have been careful not to advocate full transitional agreements, a separate deal that will leave the eu but stabilise it, they don't want to do that. it is plain from this letter they think there is going to have to be some time the soft departure in some parts of the deal, if you like. the other thing plainly in black and white andy by minister was at pains to mention it, significant powers coming back from brussels will go to the devolved administrations. she was at pains to point that out. there will be suspicion in snp circles about how much will end up going back to holyrood. chris, lesley, do you think that britain will owe a large, multi—billion pound exit bill? think that britain will owe a large, multi-billion pound exit bill? this is going to be the big early debate

andi is going to be the big early debate and i doubt very much that the eu side of this will allow us to talk about the new relationship while they want to sort out bad bill. of course there might be liabilities in terms of commitments that we have made historically, you know, the uk say that spending on various european projects up until 2020 might have been missed but there are also assets as well and in any divorce, you have two splitters. do you think the bill will be anything like 50 billion? i think that sounds like 50 billion? i think that sounds like an opening gambit from the european union. the worry that i have, we should have been on top of this parallelism thing months ago. that should have been a condition. check the record, i have been banging on about it for months. it should've been a condition of the trigger and we should have sorted out the process before we handed them what they wanted but i worry about the hard brexiteer. if there is any compromise they might say, no

deal, let's go to wto. we are going to go to ben brown. before that, theresa villiers, it would surely be politically difficult for theresa may's government to agree any kind of brexit bill, any kind of divorce bill, without having a pretty good idea of what our future relationship with the with the eu. you make a good point. it was a question! in most negotiations, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. if the government is going to compromise on money then they will not want to make that decision at an early stage, divorced from the debate on our future relationship, stage, divorced from the debate on ourfuture relationship, so i think we can all expect that the initial skirmishes of these negotiations will be... whether they are parallel or not. that might be one of the first things that david davis and

michel barnier will result. let's join ben brown in brussels. then, give is appealing, what is the mood there for britain and the eu now that this historic event has taken place? —— then. that this historic event has taken place? -- then. this was reflected in the tone of donald tusk, sadness, a bit of sarcasm, perhaps in his tweet that after nine months the unit -- tweet that after nine months the unit —— the uk has triggered brexit, almost saying why has it taken so long after the referendum? the european union throughout its history has been growing and has countries knocking at its door saying, please let us into your club, and suddenly, here, you have the british permanent representative, sir tim barrow, handing over a letter saying, actually, we want out of your club. it isa actually, we want out of your club. it is a new experience for the european union and their identity, i

think. one of the things we haven't quite cottoned onto here is the importance of money for the eu 27, that the britain is one of only a handful of net donors to the eu, and that with britain going, it leaves a huge hole in the eu finances. the already net donors do not want to pay more and net recipients worry that they could lose out. this is a real factor that they could lose out. this is a realfactor in the that they could lose out. this is a real factor in the eu that they could lose out. this is a realfactor in the eu position. that they could lose out. this is a real factor in the eu positionm absolutely is. it's a lot of money. essentially, the eu is going to be poorer all round with. that is a real issue in the coming negotiations. the other thing you got to remember is, there are 27 countries left and the eu, it has its rules and it likes to stick by its rules and it likes to stick by its rules. if you have got 27 countries, members, you have to have rules because all the countries are

so different. that will be their emphasis during the next two years of negotiations, they have to stick by their rules. they can make some compromises here and there, but too many compromises and it will be undermining their system of rules, and as you're suggesting, the money that they earn from a country like the united kingdom. what should we make, then, this leaked resolution, a d raft make, then, this leaked resolution, a draft resolution, from the european parliament, that could change before it becomes a resolution and goes before the parliament. is this the parliament trying to muscle in, and get its say in the negotiations or representative of a strong strand of opinion? it certainly represents a strand of opinion, no doubt about that. we will hear later what the european parliament thinks because we will hear from their negotiator, guy verhofstadt, and the president

of the european parliament. that might givea of the european parliament. that might give a bit more clarity. we have only had a little bit from donald tusk, the president of the european council. we will hear much more from him on friday when he outlines his overall response to theresa may's b and his broad negotiating position and possibly his and the eu's red lines. ben brown in brussels, thank you very much for that. is the british timetable realistic? we need to negotiate the terms of the divorce and that will involve money. some of which could be highly debatable. we then need to agree a complicated new free—trade deal to replace membership of the single market, involving 27 countries. we will need to put in place new security arrangements, like the arrangement

for europol and it has to be ratified by the 27 members as well as our own government. given that this will be held off until october until after the german general election is it realistic to think it will be done by october 2018 ‘s ——? are we not now looking more that there will have to be some kind of transition period, it cannot all be resolved in that period of time. the government has talked about phased implementation. i think you are right. that is different. it depends what sort of transitional arrangements we are talking about. some of them might be acceptable but anything that leaves as locked into eu rules for years would not be acceptable. donald tusk we heard earlier saying how sad he is that britain has triggered article 50. he referred, when he was talking to the

press about a statement from the eu 27, the other member states of the eu, and! 27, the other member states of the eu, and i will rejoin xserve. "we regret that the uk will leave the eu but we are ready for the process that we now will have to follow. for the european union a first step will be the adoption of guidelines for the negotiations by the european council. that will take some time. these guidelines will set out the overall positions and principles in light of which the union represented by the european commission, jean—claude juncker is the header that, will negotiate with the uk. in these negotiations the union will act as one and preserve its interests. our first priority will be to minimise the uncertainty caused by the decision of the uk for our citizens, businesses and member states. we will start by focusing on all key arrangements for an orderly withdrawal. that is pretty well it. let's get some reaction to that and the days events because we are jointly the former green party

leader natalie bennett and peter whittle of ukip who's on college green. what is your reaction to this, peter, on this momentous day, and on the day that theresa may has triggered article 50? this is something we have been waiting for a long time. it is a historic day, we are very pleased. it has been a long time coming. david cameron when he was still in power said that he would trigger it the day after the referendum. we could have done that. we could have spared ourselves this ten months of toing and froing, this drip, drip of negativity and money being paid into the eu, but it is done now, so we're on our way, so we have to make sure that people get exactly what they voted for at the end of this negotiation. how are you going to be the guard dogs of brexit? that was a term used by you or someone in ukip. how will your

old theresa may's feet to the fire? my party has a unique reputation for managing to put pressure on the world without having representation. we are the ones who got this referendum on the first place. nobody believes that it would have happened without us. basically by putting pressure on the government to make sure that we actually have complete control of our borders, that we have complete control over our legislature in this house behind me, and that all of the vital parts of brexit are held, and that there is no backsliding at all. the fact is, we have managed to do that already, so far. let's hear from natalie bennett. what is your reaction? are you sad like donald tusk about what has happened? very much so. we must reflect on the sadness of millions of british people, particularly long —— young people, particularly long —— young people, whose lives look a little bit smaller. like the students i met

at sheffield hallam university a few days ago. if he was thinking of the generations of younger people coming behind him, they might not have the same opportunities to go on scholarships and the loss of free movement means that his life does not have the same freedoms his parents and grandparents enjoyed. we need to think of all of those young people and their parents and grandparents and acknowledge that we have lost something today. we are at risk of losing free movement. we have risks being presented, environmental and is, workers' rights, protections for consumers that came from the eu, and they are now all at risk. so people are very worried. there will be disappointment, that was the word used by the prime minister. what will you as a party be able to do to ship negotiations? we will present a different vision going forward. theresa may seem to be in emollient mood today. we have seen some

different versions of theresa may and different messages from the government. we had been hearing about a hard border, tax haven britain where workers' rights are not protected and we don't have environmental and consumer protection is and lots of members of the government talk about getting rid of red tape. those are protections that keep us safe and under the protections that keep us safe and underthe eu protections that keep us safe and under the eu helped clean up british beaches and have been pushing to clean up ourair. beaches and have been pushing to clean up our air. those other things that we will be fighting for as a green party and fighting against the idea that we can be tax haven so we don't have multinational companies being parasites and not paying and treating their workers properly. what do you say about what natalie bennett and the green party will be arguing against? absolute rubbish. the last thing we will be a smaller. we will actually be bigger. we are breaking out on something that is bigger and going out into the world, a world that is developing economically far away from europe. the other thing as well, when she

talks about free movement and what have you, the fact is, people voted in their millions last year to have control over our borders. it is a pure denial. it is the nile won the pa rt of pure denial. it is the nile won the part of people like natalie who simply won't accept the result, that thatis simply won't accept the result, that that is one of the main concerns of the majority of people, uncontrolled mass migration as a result of membership of the eu. so basically i would say that we have to get the very best for britain but we also have to have complete confidence in what is the most extraordinary opportunity for us now. stay with us, what do you say to that, that britain is going to be bigger and is breaking out of something smaller, that the uk government will be able to respond to concerns about immigration as a significant part of that vote on 23rd ofjune? the realities of geography actually go

against that because we are a european country. even the prime minister has said we are a european country. when you look at the dry trade and economics of it, we would love to do deals with australia and the us, but half of all trade is with the eu 27 countries. it is not just the tariffs, it will be the slowing down of customs transactions. with 80% of the economy and the service sector, the risks of eating being allowed to trade at all in some sectors, financial services and insurance, i think that there are some big questions. and if you work in those sectors you should be asking your employer is what certainties you have that we can still do business in the way that we could, before today. theresa villiers, do you have concerns about workers' rights, that we will become a tax haven, to use the phrase ofjeremy corbyn, it will