Having and eating cake not EU negotiating plan, says Cabinet minister

Having cake and eating it is not the Government's EU plan, the Business Secretary has said, after a Brexit memo containing the phrase was photographed.

Greg Clark said the sentiments contained in the notes, caught on camera as they were being carried along Downing Street, were not "notions" he recognised as the Government position on Brexit negotiations.

The a secret document photographed outside Number 10 showed the clearly handwritten note: "What's the model? Have your cake and eat it."

It also suggested the Government would be looking for a Canadia plus-style deal and that the French would be the most difficult to deal with.

Asked about the memo on Sky News, Mr Clarke said: "I am part of the Brexit Committee, the Cabinet Committee and I don't recognise any of these notions in this note.

"We are having a very serious and methodical set of meetings to develop our negotiating position and it is a world away from what on there."

On the subject of cake, he said: "It's a nice notion but it is not something that's ever come up. It's certainly not a negotiating position."

The woman carrying the unguarded document in Downing Street is thought to be Julia Dockerill, who works for Conservative Party vice-chairman (international) Mark Field.

Ms Dockerill and Mr Field, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, were in a group of four walking from David Davis' DExEU (Department for Exiting the EU) office in 9 Downing Street up the street to Number 10.

:: What the handwritten Brexit memo really means

The notes, which filled a whole page of an A4 notebook, suggest no single market for the UK after Brexit, no "Norway-style deal" and accuse the EU's Brexit negotiators of being "difficult".

But within minutes of the leak, Number 10 dismissed the document. "This is not a Government document and it does not represent the UK's position in relation to Brexit negotiations," a source said.

But the notes are revealing because they address some of the most contentious arguments over the UK's Brexit negotiations, on which the Prime Minister has refused to give a running commentary, including:

:: Single market: "We think it's unlikely we'll be offered single market. Our criteria are clear - more open the better."

:: Transition deal: "Transitional - loath to do it. Whitehall will hold onto it. We need to bring an end to negotiations."

:: Article 50: "Difficult on Article 50 implementation - Barnier (Michel, the EU's lead negotiator) wants to see what deal looks like first."

:: Manufacturing: "Relatively straightforward."

:: Financial services: "Services harder - because French hoping for business."

:: Borders: "ECJ (European Court of Justice) and control of borders won't fit."

:: Norway: "Why no Norway - two elements. No ECJ intervention. Unlikely to do internal market."

:: Trade: "Looking at Canadian deal and add to it."

:: The French: "French likely to be the most difficult. Don't want instability in Europe. Fearful of us as competitor."

Asked whether Mrs May was concerned that the EU's negotiating team under Michel Barnier might be "too French", a Downing Street spokesman said: "No. The composition of the EU negotiating team is a matter for them."

Mr Field's role as vice-chairman (international) includes liaising with the Tories' sister parties on the centre-right and acting as a link between the Conservative Party and its MEPs.

Besides working for Mr Field as his chief of staff, speechwriter and senior researcher, Ms Dockerill is a Conservative councillor in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets.

She is the latest politician, public figure or party official carrying a sensitive document to be caught on camera by freelance photographer Steve Back. The most recent, in September, was on grammar schools.

But Ms Dockerill appears to have been particularly careless during her visit to Downing Street. It is reported that there is a sign on the DExEU exit doors reading: "Stop! Are your documents on show?"