Frustrated EU spokesperson channels Spice Girls in Brexit plea to UK: ‘Tell us what you want, what you really, really want’

A European Commission spokesperson has encapsulated EU frustration at UK indecision on Brexit by channelling the Spice Girls.

Margaritis Schinas, the chief spokesperson of the commission presidency, told reporters that that Britain would have to “tell us what they want, what they really, really want” in an exhausted piece to camera.

Apart from recalling the girl band’s 1996 hit “Wannabe”, Mr Schinas repeated the EU’s mantra that the withdrawal agreement is not open for negotiation – effectively shooting down Theresa May’s “plan B”, which she spelled out in parliament yesterday.

He said he suffered from “a terrible sense of deja vu” over the negotiations and that “there is nothing new” that can be added at this point.

Brussels says London needs to move before it can meaningfully add anything else to discussions.

“Look, in all honesty I have a terrible sense of deja vu in all these exchanges, and I think I’m not the only one,” Mr Schinas said with a sigh.

“There is nothing else that I can meaningfully say: I think I have exhausted all our arguments, all our positions.

“There is nothing new. Michel Barnier is on the record, everybody’s on the record I think. There’s nothing much to add, there’s nothing else to add.

“The withdrawal agreement was agreed with the UK government, with the EU27, it is now on the table, it is not open for negotiation, and we expect the United Kingdom to tell us what they want, what they really, really want.”

Ms May on Monday said she would try to make changes to the controversial Northern Ireland backstop in order to appease the DUP and Tory eurosceptics and get them to vote for her deal.

But the prime minister has already asked the EU’s negotiators about this, and they have rejected it. Both sides say they are ready to go ahead with no deal, though neither say they want that to happen.

If there is no agreement by 29 March 2019 the UK will leave with no deal on that date, unless the government decides to revoke Article 50, or seeks an extension. Labour has called for the government to rule out a no-deal scenario.

It is not the first time the chart-topping group have been mentioned in the same breath as Brexit. In 1996 they gave a now infamous interview to the Spectator magazine where Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham slammed the “European federal plan” and described the single currency as “an outrage”.

“Britain was the first to break away from the Roman Empire,’ Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell added. “When push comes to shove, the pounds, dollars and deutschmarks can’t be equal. They can’t all be at the same standard of living.”

Posh concluded: “The Euro-bureaucrats are destroying every bit of national identity. Let me give you an example – those new passports are revolting, an insult to our kingdom. We must keep our national individuality.”