Philip Hammond: EU leaders happy to hold informal Brexit talks

UK foreign secretary says Brussels ban on pre-article 50 negotiations does not reflect mood in national capitalsEuropean leaders have already proved happy to hold informal talks on Brexit despite “strident
noises” from Brussels banning such discussions, Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, has said.
The senior Conservative said his talks with other foreign ministers at a Nato summit in Brussels had been completely dominated by informal exchanges about Britain leaving the EU and its consequences.
Hammond said the talks were about “smelling the atmosphere”, especially around the willingness of countries to guarantee reciprocal rights for Brits abroad and EU citizens in the UK. It was about “reassuring and exploring the art of what is possible”, he added.
He made the remarks after the EU ordered that no negotiations with the UK should start until article 50, the formal notice to leave, is triggered. “I don’t think anyone is pretending that means bilaterally we won’t be discussing all of these issues with member states,” Hammond said.It is probably not an exaggeration to say that there is almost no other subject on the table when I get together with my colleagues. We are in a Nato meeting, but most of the discussions have not been about Nato issues, they have been about the outcome of the referendum and the consequences of that.”
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