There’s no Plan B warns Leo as Brexit text agreed

He says Britain will get very close EU ties, as May faces uphill battle to win votes

EU and UK leaders formally endorsed the Brexit withdrawal text yesterday, but Leo Varadkar has warned ‘there isn’t a Plan B’, if the British MPs fail to ratify it.

After 18 months of intense negotiations, the deal is still likely to be voted down in the House of Commons.

However, European leaders have made a ‘conscious decision’ not to discuss what would happen if it’s a No vote, the Taoiseach said yesterday, and he added: ‘This is the only deal on the table.’

He said: ‘There isn’t a Plan B. The truth is what we have here is the best deal that is available both for the United Kingdom and for the European Union.

‘We have a backstop in place but we all agree that that’s an insurance policy that has to be there, but would only need to be invoked under certain circumstances.’

He warned British politicians hoping to renegotiate the text that it isn’t a viable option.

‘Let’s not forget what we have here, we have an agreement that took between 18 months and two years to negotiate, it is in several parts, is over 500 pages long and, as of today, has the support of 28 governments,’ he said.

‘Anyone can have a better deal or an alternative deal in their own minds, but an agreement 500 pages long that 28 member states can sign up to, nobody has that. What’s on the table is the only deal that’s on the table.’

He said the ‘entire European Union’ was of the view that the deal could not be renegotiated, a line repeated by various EU heads of state throughout the day.

‘It wasn’t easy to get to this point,’ he said, ‘What’s being put in front of EU parliament and House of Commons is a deal. Any other deal really only exists in people’s imagination.’

While Tony Blair yesterday described it as a choice between ‘painful and pointless’, Theresa May said it was the ‘only possible deal’ available.

The British prime minister said the Commons vote will take place before Christmas, after a ‘crucial national debate’, likely to take place before the next European summit on December 13. ‘I think, as the date approaches, as decision day approaches, the chances of Prime Minister May winning the vote in parliament actually increases,’ the Taoiseach said.

‘Because as time goes on, as we get closer to the vote, it’s going to become more and more obvious that the alternative to this deal is a no-deal scenario. That is essentially a difficult decision that MPs are going to have to make.

‘It will become more and more obvious that those who are opposed to this deal don’t agree among themselves as to what an alternative deal might look like.

‘Therefore those alternatives would not have a majority support in the parliament, and certainly would not have the support of the 28 members states who have endorsed this deal.’

Mr Varadkar said that after Brexit, the UK would enjoy closer ties than any other nation has to the EU. This runs contrary to the EU’s stance in the negotiations.

‘We are determined to make sure that the United Kingdom isn’t just another third country but that we have a special relationship with the EU and UK afterwards,’ he said.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also urged UK MPs to back the agreement. He

‘This is the only deal possible’

said: ‘This is the best deal possible. I’m inviting those who have to ratify this deal in the House of Commons to take this into consideration. This is the best deal for the UK, the best deal for Europe, this is the only deal possible.’

But he added that it was a ‘sad day’ for Europe. He said: ‘A country leaving the EU doesn’t give rise to the raising of champagne glasses or applause.’

While Arlene Foster and the DUP have threatened to vote the deal down if the backstop is not removed, there is little chance of that happening. Mr Varadkar insisted the deal ‘is very much in line with the principles of the Good Friday Agreement’.

European Council president Donald Tusk stressed that the EU would ratify the deal in time for Brexit day on March 29 next year, and was determined to build ‘as close as possible a partnership’ with Britain in the future.

‘We will remain friends until the end of days. And one day longer,’ Mr Tusk said. If the deal is passed in London, Britain will leave the EU on March 29, and enter a transition period during which it effectively remains a full member and the focus of negotiations switches to future relationships.