Brexit: EU negotiator and Council chief tell Theresa May deal is not open for renegotiation
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Your support makes all the difference.The EU's chief Brexit negotiator told Theresa May time was too short to find an alternative to the Irish border arrangement agreed in their Brexit deal and said the divorce deal was not open for renegotiation.
Michel Barnier told France's RTL radio the two-year divorce negotiations had looked for an alternative to the "Irish backstop", designed to ensure the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland remains free of border posts.
"No one, on either side, was able to say what arrangement would be needed to ensure controls on goods, animals and merchandise without having a border," Mr Barnier said. "We have neither the time, nor the technologies."
After a relatively successful night for Ms May during which the government defeated a number of attempts by MPs to secure control of the Brexit process, she will now have the Herculean task of convincing EU leaders to reopen talks.
MPs approved an amendment tabled by Sir Graham Brady by 317 votes to 301 to accept Ms May’s Brexit deal as long as an alternative to the backstop could be found.
But the response from Europe was united and blunt.
"The Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation," European Council president Donald Tusk tweeted in what he said was a message to Ms May.
"Yesterday, we found out what the UK doesn't want. But we still don't know what the UK does want."
Jeremy Corbyn has said Labour MPs who defied the whip in yesterday’s votes “will be dealt with”, as he holds talks with Ms May on how the Brexit negotiations should move forward.
Mr Corbyn met with the prime minister to discuss how a conensus could be reached on the Brexit negotiations only weeks after he had rejected Ms May’s initial invitiation.
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Donald Tusk is set to have a phone call this evening with Theresa May to discuss the next steps in the Brexit process.
Want to know what has happened with Brexit and what will happen next? Ashley Cowburn, our Political Correspondent has explained here:
This morning on LBC, former Brexit Secretary David Davis said he was confident that a Brexit deal will be agreed because "the EU have a lot more to lose than we have.
"There will be pressure on them to come back to the table."
President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, says it is “difficult to imagine we can renegotiate the Brexit deal with the UK that has already been approved by EU member states.”
Guy Verhofstadt says the backstop is a safeguard and an insurance is 'needed' to ensure no border between Northern Ireland and republic
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve, whose amendment to allow a set of indicative votes on MPs' preferred Brexit options was defeated last night , said the Conservative Party could "fall apart" over Europe
Speaking on Sky New's All-Out Politics he said:
The risk must be there that we could fall apart, but it is something I would like to avoid.
Brexit has challenged the unity and ability of both of the two main parties to operate."
I am totally happy for the Prime Minister to go back and see if she can get more - and if she can sell that to my colleagues in the ERG, that's a step in the right direction.
I confess, I'm not very optimistic that she is going to get more, because unless the EU changes what I think is a settled position ... I don't know how she is going to make progress."
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has said that Brexit would bring more work for customs officers, adding he was confident that authorities would cope regardless of whether Brexit was orderly or disorderly.
Commenting on the prospect of no-deal Mr Scholz said: "I am sure that we will manage this well, be it orderly or disorderly."
Brexit negotiators have spent two years looking at alternatives to the backstop insurance policy to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and not found any that work, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
"We have been through all of these things. We have tested them and we have found that they do not stand up to scrutiny, and now we have a British prime minister advocating again for the same things that were tested," Mr Coveney told national broadcaster RTE.
Politicians from across the continent are doubling down on their position about not reopening the negotiations.
French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said:
Brexit will take place in two months. Time is running out.
We are ready to talk about the future but now is the time to agree on the conditions of the separation.
The Withdrawal Agreement that is on the table is the best possible agreement. Let us not reopen it."
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