Government's empty-chair policy in EU branded 'another silly gesture'

Britain’s Brexit secretary, left, with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photograph: Francisco Seco/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesThe British government has been accused of making “another silly gesture” after it emerged that UK officials attended slightly more than half of EU ministerial meetings since a pledge to skip “most” of them to focus on Brexit.Since the government announced it would abandon most EU meetings from 1 September, a British minis