Donald Tusk trolls Theresa May on Instagram over her Chequers plan

Donald Tusk with Theresa May (Photograph: Donald Tusk/Instagram) - Credit: Archant

European Council president Donald Tusk has used Instagram to troll Theresa May on her Chequers plan.

Tusk used used the photo-sharing platform to issue a light-hearted reminder of the EU’s insistence that the UK cannot ‘cherry-pick’ elements from its rulebook.

Sharing a photograph of himself helping the prime minister to a cupcake at a buffet at the Salzburg summit, Mr Tusk added the comment: ‘A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.’

The post comes as European leaders ramped up the pressure on Theresa May to change course on Brexit after she told them that her Chequers plan was the only option on the table.

With the issue of how to avoid a hard border between the UK and Ireland after Brexit still to be resolved, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said ‘time is running short’ to reach a deal.

   
  
 
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   A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries. #brexit #salzburgsummit2018 #theresamay #donaldtusk #europeancouncil #europeanunion #euco
 A post shared by  Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) on Sep 20, 2018 at 12:57am PDT

Other leaders were also cynical about May’s approach – with a number calling on her government to hold a fresh referendum.

Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat has said there is ‘almost unanimous’ support among EU leaders for Britain to hold a second referendum on membership of the union.

The Czech prime minister Andrej Babis also supported calls for a People’s Vote: ‘We hope that finally we will reach a deal but basically I am very unhappy that the UK is leaving, so it would be better maybe to make another referendum and maybe the people in the meantime could change their view.’

Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel said: ‘I know that the Chequers plan is something that was not easy for Theresa May to pass through in her own Government.

‘I am convinced that we will find an agreement, but time is getting short. We both need to find a compromise.’

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the presentation was ‘interesting’, adding: ‘It was polite, it was not aggressive, she was doing her job.’

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