May back in Brussels to sell Brexit plan to sceptical EU leaders
BRITISH PM BACK IN BRUSSELS IN BID TO WIN OVER SCEPTICAL EU LEADERS
British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised EU leaders she can get the Brexit deal through Parliament if they give her legally-binding changes to it.
May, who also vowed to deliver Brexit “on time”, was speaking after a series of meetings with top EU officials in Brussels.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker again ruled out the kind of changes the British prime minister wants to see.
But the two sides agreed to further talks to break the deadlock.
May said she had also spoken to European Council President Donald Tusk about his comments on Wednesday about there being a “special place in hell” for those who campaigned for Brexit without a plan to deliver it safely.
She said Tusk’s language “was not helpful” and had “caused widespread dismay in the United Kingdom”. May said she had told him he should be “focusing” on working with the UK to get a Brexit deal.
Tusk tweet
Tusk tweeted that there was “no breakthrough in sight” following his talks with the UK prime minister.
EU leaders have repeatedly asked May to propose a concrete plan that would usher Britain out of the European Union without imposing a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which could risk inflaming the dormant conflict there.
The plan to keep the border open that EU and British negotiators dreamed up together — an insurance policy, known as the backstop, that could risk leaving Britain trapped halfinside, half-outside the European Union — has been toxic in Britain.
May and other Brexiteer allies have demanded a way to avoid getting stuck permanently halfway out the door, but EU policymakers say that they cannot countenance anything that would jeopardise the Irish border.
One element that might change the dynamic in yesterday’s meetings was a letter from British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who offered opposition support to the divorce deal if May can guarantee a close, long-term relationship with the European Union.
His demands would likely be acceptable to EU leaders.