Eight weeks to avoid No Deal
May tells EU leaders: We won’t delay Brexit or have a second poll – so let’s get it sorted NOW
THERESA May last night warned EU leaders that Britain is ready to walk away without a deal unless they reach a ‘workable’ agreement on Brexit in the next two months.
In a blunt ultimatum, the Prime Minister ruled out any delay to Britain’s departure from the EU in March – and said there were no circumstances in which she would consider a second referendum.
Mrs May also rejected the EU’s latest proposals for resolving the Northern Ireland border issue, warning leaders that they would break up the UK.
In recent weeks, senior figures in Brussels have floated the idea of extending the Article 50 process for up to a year to allow the talks to drift on. With Labour and several Tory MPs wobbling on the issue, some harbour hopes that ministers could even agree to hold a second referendum.
Treasury minister Mel Stride went off message yesterday when he warned Eurosceptics that they could ‘end up in the situation where we could have a second referendum’ if they vote down the Chequers deal in Parliament.
But speaking directly to EU leaders at a special summit in Salzburg last night, Mrs May said delaying Brexit was ‘not an option’.
Over a dinner of wiener schnitzel and Austrian wines, she said: ‘We all recognise that time is short, but delaying or extending these negotiations is not an option. I know for many of you, Brexit is not something you want, but it is important to be clear – there will be no second referendum in the UK.
‘The public has delivered its verdict and I as Prime Minister will deliver on that. The UK will leave on March 29 next year.
‘I have put forward serious and workable proposals. We will not, of course, agree on every detail, but the onus is now on all of us to get this deal done.’
EU president Donald Tusk yesterday confirmed plans for an emergency Brexit summit of all 28 EU leaders in mid-November.
UK sources said that with Mrs May ruling out any extension to the talks, this was now the last realistic opportunity to strike a deal in time for it to be ratified before Britain’s departure.
Arriving at the summit yesterday, Mrs May said she remained ‘confident’ of a good deal – but warned that the EU would have to ‘evolve’ its position and move closer to her Chequers proposals, which have been greeted with scepticism in Brussels. She added: ‘I’m confident that with good will and determination we can agree a deal that right for both parties.’
Mr Tusk described elements of the Chequers proposals as a ‘positive evolution in the UK approach’, particularly on security co-operation.
But he said key differences remained, adding: ‘On other issues such as the Irish question or the framework of economic co-operation the UK proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated. Today there is perhaps more hope but there is surely less and less time.’
EU Commission president JeanClaude Juncker said the two sides remained ‘far away’ from a deal.
The commission is hostile to the proposal for a ‘common rule book’ with the UK on goods and the idea of the UK collecting tariffs for the EU, but some EU leaders made it clear they were desperate to avoid a nodeal Brexit.
Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who holds the EU’s revolving presidency, said: ‘We are convinced that we need a deal. We must do everything to avoid a hard Brexit.
‘It would not just harm British, but would also cause damage for us in Europe. We are striving to make a compromise possible.’
Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel said: ‘We need to find a deal, a no-deal is a really bad solution. It’s a terrible solution for the UK and a bad solution for Europe. So we need to find a deal.’
Last night was Mrs May’s first chance to put the Chequers proposals directly to EU leaders since they were agreed in July. The proposals led to the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis and have split the Conservative Party.
EU leaders are expected to deliver their first public verdict on Chequers today following discussions from which Mrs May will be excluded.