Britain may divide EU over Brexit negotiation

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he fears Britain will divide the European Union's 27 remaining members by making different promises to each country during its Brexit negotiations.

"The other EU 27 don't know it yet, but the Brits know very well how they can tackle this," Juncker told Deutschlandfunk radio. "They could promise country A this, country B that and country C something else and the end game is that there is not a united European front."

Britain will by the end of March trigger formal divorce talks with the EU, a major test for the bloc which is struggling to have a grip on other challenges like keeping Greece in the euro zone, the refugee crisis and the election of Donald Trump as US president.

His warning echoed remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at an EU summit in Bratislava last year aimed at finding a way forward after Britain's vote to leave, that the bloc is in a critical situation.

Juncker said one area where the remaining 27 could improve cooperation was defence. Britain and France are the only EU countries with nuclear arsenals.

In Britain, Labour's leader in the House of Lords has pledged not to hold up or “frustrate” the triggering of Article 50 – as the government's bill moves to the House of Lords for scrutiny.

Baroness [Angela] Smith pledged no “extended ping-ping” between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, but said peers would try to add “legitimate” amendments to the bill. Labour's peers have tabled a number of ideas they say could make the Brexit process run more efficiently, including the call for a meaningful vote on the final deal.

The Government has no majority in the House of Lords meaning that it must rely on the support of peers from other parties and none to clear the way for its legislative programme.