Prime Minister returns from summit with limited assurances on Northern Ireland

A defiant Theresa May has insisted her efforts to win fresh assurances on her Brexit deal remain on track after another bruising encounter with EU leaders.

The prime minister said further talks would take place in the coming days on measures she hopes will persuade MPs to back the agreement in Parliament.

EU leaders acknowledged the need to “bring down the temperature” after appearing to rebuff her calls for assurances on the Northern Ireland backstop at a late-night press conference in Brussels.

At the same time however, European Council president Donald Tusk said he had “no mandate” to open new negotiations, although he would remain at Mrs May’s “disposal”.

Earlier the tensions erupted into public view when a visibly angry Mrs May was seen berating European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker over remarks he had made during the press conference in the early hours of yesterday.

The prime minister was apparently infuriated after he described the British negotiating position as “nebulous and imprecise”.

Mr Juncker said he had been able to convince her that his remarks had referred to the wider Brexit debate in the UK, joking: “After having checked what I said yesterday night, she was kissing me.”

However there was no disguising the disappointment on the British side that Mrs May came away from the two-day summit with only limited assurances regarding the backstop, which is intended ensure there is no return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The EU agreed they should try to ensure the backstop was never needed by swiftly working to reach a new trade agreement with the UK after it has left.

In her end-of-summit press conference, she acknowledged that the Withdrawal Agreement could not be reopened, but insisted their discussions had shown there was scope for “further clarification” on the way the backstop would operate.

“The EU is clear, as I am, that if we are going to leave with a deal, this is it,” she said. “But my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion following the council’s conclusions is in fact possible.

“There is work still to do and we will be holding talks in coming days about how to obtain the further assurances that the UK Parliament needs in order to be able to approve the deal.”