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By Isla Binnie
MADRID, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Britain's Brexit minister on
Thursday urged the European Union to show flexibility and
creativity in striking a deal, although he stuck to his
country's position that the contentious Irish backstop
arrangement must go.
Stephen Barclay was speaking in Madrid just six weeks before
the date on which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take
Britain out of the European Union.
Britain wants a deal to guide its relationship with its
biggest trading partner after it leaves the bloc, but would
leave without one if both sides cannot agree in the next 42
days, Barclay said.
"The prize of a deal should focus the minds of both sides on
this need for creativity and flexibility," he said.
"So let's work creatively to secure a deal, a deal the UK is
committed to get in, a deal without a backstop ... a deal which
will pass both the UK parliament and the European parliament."
He listed issues with the Irish arrangement - an insurance
policy to keep open the border on the island - which made it
impossible to accept, including the difficulty of guaranteeing
it would be temporary.
Barclay said Britain was ready to share "relevant texts" in
negotiation, but was in no rush to comply with EU requests for
specific written proposals to formalise an alternative.
"Why risk crystallising an undesirable result this November
when both sides can work together until December 2020?" he
asked. "We risk being trapped in a zero-sum game and that will
lead to zero-sum outcomes."
Barclay is due to meet Spain's acting foreign minister and
newly appointed European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, as
well as members of the British community in Spain.
More than 300,000 Britons are registered as living in Spain,
and many more have migrated without registering.
Business ties between the two countries would also be
complicated by a messy departure. Barclay said international
groups like British Airways and Iberia airlines operator IAG
did not want uncertainty "dragging out".
Britain is ready to continue discussions about its territory
of Gibraltar on Spain's southern coast, which some 10,000
Spaniards enter every day, Barclay said, adding conversation on
the matter so far had been "constructive and pragmatic".
The conservative government would abide by a ruling from
Britain's top judicial body, the Supreme Court, on Johnson's
decision to suspend parliament for five weeks, he said.
The court is hearing legal arguments over whether Johnson
acted lawfully and may decide as soon as Friday.
Barclay said he will meet EU Brexit negotiator Michel
Barnier on Friday.
"Whilst we seek a deal, we recognise we may not be able to
agree a deal and in that instance we will leave with no deal,"
he said.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Additional reporting by Jose Elías
Rodríguez; Editing by Ingrid Melander, Raissa Kasolowsky and
Giles Elgood)
