Tusk and Juncker say no more negotiation on deal

May’s pleas for assurances to placate MPs seem to fall on deaf ears

Theresa May has appealed to EU leaders to give her the assurances she needs to get the backing of MPs for her Brexit deal.

At the EU summit in Brussels, she insisted she could construct a Commons majority for the controversial Withdrawal Agreement, despite heavy criticism from all sides of the House.

However, in a meeting with the leaders of the remaining 27, she said she had to be able to convince MPs the UK would not find itself tied to the EU indefinitely through the Northern Ireland “backstop”.

“There is a majority in my Parliament who want to leave with a deal so with the right assurances this deal can be passed,” she said in prepared remarks released by No 10.

After listening to her appeal, European Council president Donald Tusk said EU leaders had reaffirmed their determination that there could be no renegotiation of the Withdrawal Agreement.

He said that they had expressed a “firm determination” to work “speedily” to ensure that there was an agreement on the future relationship in place by the end of the transition period at the of 2020 so the backstop was not needed.

Meanwhile European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker criticised Mrs May’s lack of clarity over what she was seeking from the future relationship, asking for “clarification”.

“Our UK friends need to say what they want, instead of asking us to say what we want,” he said.

“So we would like within a few weeks our UK friends to set out their expectations for us...I would like clarifications,” he added.

“We don’t want the UK to think there can be any form of renegotiation, that is crystal clear. We can add clarifications but no real changes.”

Picture: Getty. On the fringes: Prime Minister Theresa May watches other EU leaders greeting each other at Brussels yesterday.