Blame game as last-ditch Brexit talks hit the buffers

BRITAIN and Brussels blamed each other yesterday for the failure to strike a revised Brexit agreement.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, met European ambassadors for an emergency meeting at which he said London was trying to shift responsibility.

He then posted on Twitter the bloc’s new offers to break the deadlock.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay countered by pointing out that one of the options was ruled out by Britain last year. ‘With a very real deadline looming, now is not the time to rerun old arguments,’ he said.

‘The UK has put forward clear new proposals. We now need to agree a balanced solution that can work for both sides.’

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC: ‘Future generations, if this ends in acrimony, will say the EU got this moment wrong. And I really hope they don’t.’

Theresa May has 48 hours to consider her next move before a possible dash to Brussels on Monday, with a Commons vote the following day. Sources said ‘technical talks’ would continue.

Brussels unveiled its offers just hours after Mrs May delivered a speech in Grimsby pleading with the EU for ‘one more push’ to get her plan through Parliament. The Prime Minister also warned rebel MPs that failure to back her could leave them with no Brexit at all.

And she said Britain would be plunged into crisis if the withdrawal agreement is defeated again. ‘Let’s get it done,’ she added: ‘Reject it and no one knows what will happen. We may not leave the EU for many months, we may leave without the protections that the deal provides. We may never leave at all.’

In a direct appeal to EU leaders, Mrs May said: ‘now is the moment for us to act. We’ve worked hard together over two years... it’s a comprehensive deal that provides for an orderly exit from the EU and sets the platform for an ambitious future relationship. It needs just one more push to address the final specific concerns of our Parliament.’

Mrs May, who will spend the weekend in her Maidenhead constituency, is expected to embark on a fresh round of calls with EU leaders to try to win last-minute concessions. She held phone conversations with her counterparts from Bulgaria, denmark and Portugal on Thursday.

The Prime Minister confirmed that MPs will get a second chance to vote on her deal on Tuesday. If it is rejected, she has promised to stage votes giving them the choice of leaving without a deal or delaying Brexit beyond March 29.

Britain has been seeking changes to the backstop, which would create a UK-wide customs union with the EU to avoid a hard border in Ireland. Mrs May has promised to get legally binding changes, but talks over the issue stalled earlier this week when demands made by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox were rejected.

Under one of Brussels’ counteroffers, the UK would be given the right to exit the backstop unilaterally – but only if it remained in place for northern Ireland. Mrs May ruled this out last year, saying it threatened the integrity of the UK.

The EU’s second offer involves creating a fresh document with beefed-up legal language.

‘Needs just one more push’