May mulls ‘no deal’

PM demands respect from EU

Theresa May has been warned Britain is “staring down the barrel of no deal” after she issued a Brexit challenge to the EU.

A day after her humiliating rebuff from EU leaders in Salzburg the prime minister came out fighting, warning Brussels there could be no further progress in Brexit talks unless it put forward fresh ideas on Northern Ireland and trade.

Standing at a lectern before Union flags in 10 Downing Street, Mrs May said the EU’s dismissal of her Chequers plan without an explanation was “not acceptable”, and demanded “respect” for the UK from Brussels.

“No one wants a good deal more than me but the European Union should be clear, I will not overturn the result of the referendum nor will I break up my country,” she said.

Acknowledging that talks have reached an “impasse” with six months to go to Brexit day on March 29, the PM left no doubt she was ready to contemplate a no-deal withdrawal.

She issued promises that, if no deal is secured, the rights of three million expats will be protected and the government will do “everything in our power” to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.

The pound plummeted following her speech.

Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg welcomed the PM’s “strong and forthright” tone but said it was time for her to ditch Chequers and go for a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the country is “staring down the barrel of no deal”.

In Brussels, one EU official said: “The Commission is, and will continue, working constructively, as President (Jean-Claude) Juncker outlined in his State of the EU speech.”

Mrs May promised to draw up alternative proposals to unblock the Irish border issue ahead of a crunch summit on October 18, described as the “moment of truth” by European Council President Donald Tusk.

But she stood by her blueprint – which would see the UK enter a free trade area for goods with a “common rulebook”.

“At this late stage in the negotiations, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and new proposals,” she added.

“So we now need to hear from the European Union what the real issues are and what their proposals are so we can discuss them.

“Until we do, we can’t make progress.”

Mrs May said that Brussels’s “backstop” proposal to keep Northern Ireland in the EU customs area unless a better solution can be found was “unacceptable” to Britain because it would create a customs border down the Irish Sea.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said that the Chequers plan was “dead as a dodo, killed in London by Tory fundamentalists”.

“I will not overturn the result of the referendum”