Brexit: May will be '˜bloody difficult woman' towards Juncker

Theresa May has said she will be a 'bloody difficult woman' towards European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker during the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

Prime Minister Theresa May talks to engineer Terry Fisher while out campaigning in Helston, Cornwall. Picture: SWNS

The Prime Minister’s comment came after German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that she and Mr Juncker clashed last Wednesday at Downing Street over Mrs May’s desire to make Brexit “a success” and whether the issue of protecting the rights of expat UK and EU nationals could be agreed next month.

Speaking to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mrs May said: “I think what we’ve seen recently is that at times these negotiations are going to be tough.

“During the Conservative Party leadership campaign I was described by one of my colleagues as a bloody difficult woman.

“And I said at the time the next person to find that out will be Jean-Claude Juncker.”

She also said she did not “recall” the account given of the meeting and described it as “Brussels gossip”.

The “bloody difficult” quote came from former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke, who was recorded discussing her after a TV interview last year.

Mrs May also said that the talks would be difficult and would involve either her or Jeremy Corbyn lining up for the UK against the other 27 EU leaders.

Pressed on whether she did believe the issue of the rights of EU nationals in the UK - and Britons abroad - could be settled in June, she added: “I’ve always said that I want this to be an issue that we address at an early stage.”