Brexit news: Theresa May gives statement to MPs after Brussels talks hit deadlock
All the latest updates from Westminster
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK
Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight
Theresa May's leadership and her plans for Brexit have come under intense pressure after a setback in talks with Brussels over the weekend.
A hastily arranged meeting between Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and European Union negotiator, Michel Barnier, failed to produce a breakthrough, leaving the process on a knife-edge ahead of a crunch summit on Wednesday.
Ms May was forced to come before MPs to discuss the state of the talks, as the the impasse over measures to prevent a hard border with Ireland threw the timetable for reaching a deal into major doubt.
The prime minister insisted that a deal was "still achievable" during a heated Commons statement, where she faced criticism from all sides over her approach.
Donald Tusk, the European Council president, also piled on the pressure by tweeting that a no-deal Brexit was "more likely than ever" shortly after Ms May's Commons address.
It was confirmed that the prime minister will address the 27 leaders before the European Council dinner in a last-ditch bid to win them over - though she will not be allowed into the main discussion itself.
If you want to follow the developments as they happened, see our live coverage below:
Speculation has been rife about the international development secretary Penny Mordaunt's future in the cabinet - she appeared to sidestep questions this morning, urging colleagues to "calm down".
This is from the Cox report into harassment and bullying in Westminster published just minutes ago. The report says the Commons has a culture of "deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence" in which bullying and harassment has been able to thrive. Earlier this year the inquiry was instigated by the House of Commons Commission, which delegated the appointment of Dame Laura to oversee the report.
Introducing her report, Dame Laura made the following statement: “We are proud to work in the House of Commons, but when we are abused those who lead us should support us, not abandon us to our fate and cover up the traces. And those who abuse us should be held accountable. Establishing a new complaints and grievance process won’t come close to solving the problems in this place. We need a seismic shift. But the institution is worth fighting for.”
Here is a section from the report:
New: Theresa May will make a statement to the House of Commons on the state of the Brexit negotiations at 3.30pm
A spokesman for the PM said: "The EU continues to insist on the possibility of a customs border down the Irish Sea. This is something the House of Commons has already rejected and is unacceptable to the prime minister."
This is from my colleague, Lizzy Buchan, who is listening into to Nicola Sturgeon's speech this morning on a "common sense" approach to Brexit.
Over the weekend there were expectations that a withdrawal deal would be secured, even that the “technical” process was agreed, but that it fell apart because it was still politically unacceptable for Number 10.
The Independent’s political editor, Joe Watts, writes that this morning Downing Street sought to tweak the narrative slightly, blaming the EU’s plans for the Irish border as the reason for the breakdown – rather than a general failure to find a solution to a problem everyone has known about for two years or more.
At the morning briefing the PM’s spokesman highlighted
“unresolved issues relating to the backstop” – by which he meant the UK’s backstop plan, that after the Brexit transition period, a “temporary customs arrangement” (TCA) would be put in place if no new trade deal is yet agreed.
The UK wants this TCA time limited, but the EU get nervous about that because they think preparations for the TCA may not be ready, and even if it is, it will not allow enough time for a trade deal if it is time limited.
As a result they want what is being called the “backstop to the backstop” (at least Northern Ireland remaining in the customs union until a solution is agreed) to come into play if the TCA fails to materialise or expires whilst no future trade deal has been sealed – and it is this which May says is “unacceptable”.
Her spokesman went on: “We need to be able to look the British people in the eye and say the backstop needs to remain a temporary solution.”
Brexiteers meanwhile want May to put a hard “end date” in her proposals for the TCA backstop, which the PM knows would be unacceptable in Brussels. Instead she appears to have tried in negotiations to suggest other ways of making it temporary without putting in a hard date, as a compromise.
What this new round of events shows, is that even this compromise appears to have been unacceptable to Brussels, which is still saying it needs its “backstop to the backstop”.
With several members of the cabinet now said to be on the brink of resigning, it is unclear if the PM can compromise further without her frontbench crumbling.
Brexit finally appears to have stretched the PM’s fudging abilities to its absolute limit.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies