Time ticking as threat of Brexit ‘no deal’ grows
A crunch EU summit broke up in Brussels yesterday with leaders apparently no closer to ending the deadlock over the issue of the Irish border.
Prime Minister Theresa May insisted a Brexit agreement could still be reached in coming weeks, but German counterpart Angela Merkel warned “everyone ought to prepare for a no deal”.
EU leaders departed Brussels yesterday no closer to solving the Brexit impasse over the Irish border, with the UK being warned that a special summit to try break the deadlock will only take place “if and when” decisive progress is made.
EU Council president Donald Tusk said “not enough progress” had been made to schedule another leaders’ meeting in November, adding to uncertainty over whether a Brexit deal could be reached before time runs out.
At the close of the EU Council summit, Theresa May said Brexit talks “were always going to be tough” and insisted a deal could still be reached.
But German chancellor Angela Merkel warned that “each and everyone ought to prepare for a no deal” at the close of an EU gathering that had been earmarked as the decisive moment, but passed without a breakthrough.
“These were always going to be tough negotiations and they were always going to get tougher as we got to the closing stages,” Mrs May said in her closing press conference. “There are some difficult issues we are still working through.
“Crucial among those is this issue of the Northern Ireland backstop and ensuring that we can provide for a solution which is not the solution that was produced by the European Commission initially, which would have effectively carved Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United
Kingdom. That is unacceptable to the UK government. On that issue further solutions have been put forward.
“But what we want to do is to work to get through that so that we can actually get to the deal that I believe will be good for the British people.”
European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker said an extension to the 21-month post-brexit transition period “will probably happen” after the idea was floated during this week’s summit, risking further anger by Brexiteers
in Mrs May’s party. The Prime Minister sought to explain the proposal, saying: “What has now emerged is the idea that an option to extend the implementation period could be a further solution to this issue of the backstop in Northern Ireland,” she said. “We are not doing is standing here proposing an extension to the implementation period. What we are doing is working to get solution on the backstop.”
Mrs May will face MPS on Monday, with many on her own side given a fresh reason
to oppose her Brexit strategy over the transition.
The Prime Minister will likely also face calls to explain reports that she told the Irish prime minister in a one-onone meeting that the UK would drop its demand for a strict time limit beyond which London will no longer be bound by EU customs rules.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May had “failed to meet the deadline she herself set” for progress at this week’s summit.
The Scottish Government’s Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell said it had been “yet another humiliation”.
“The clear and obvious way forward to protect jobs and living standards is to stay in the customs union and single market,” Mr Russell said.
“This must now become the immediate objective of the UK government rather than doomed attempts to reconcile the warring factions of the Tory party.”