Brexit news latest: DUP dismisses Michel Barnier proposal as Theresa May says EU withdrawal could be cancelled if deal rejected
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May pleaded with her EU counterparts to give ground in a key speech just days before MPs vote on her Brexit deal.
Speaking in Grimsby on Friday, the prime minister said “no one knows” what will happen if her plan is rejected, warning Brexiteers: “We may never leave at all”.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier reacted to Ms May’s speech in a series of tweets. He said the UK would have the unilateral right to leave the customs union, but also made clear Northern Ireland would have to stay inside it.
However, the apparent concession was dismissed by the DUP as neither “realistic nor sensible”. Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay suggested the EU plan was simply a return to an earlier version of the backstop which had already been rejected.
Ms May accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of supporting “a divisive second referendum that would take the UK right back to square one”.
Mr Corbyn fired back by warning the prime minister not to make a third attempt to ram through her deal if it’s defeated next week, saying it must be “the end of the road”.
Here's how the day unfolded:
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Here's our quick take on Ms May's speech, where she warned MPs “no one knows what will happen” if they reject here deal - and that the UK may never leave the EU at all.
The prime minister told those preparing to take a decision on her deal in the House of Commons that they should move “past the bitterness” of the debate and back it so the country can more on.
More here:
There's a bit of a row brewing over why Theresa May only took one question from a female journalist during the Q&A, on International Women's Day.
ITV's political correspondent Libby Wiener challenged her on it as she walked away - to which May retorted "They were answered by a female prime minister".
To be fair to the PM, female political journalists are still in the minority - although things have undoubtedly improved in recent years.
Reaction is starting to come in to May's speech and safe to say she hasn't won over her critics.
A Labour source texts: “Is that it? What a waste of everyone's time.
“There was nothing new in the speech, just more time wasting and running down the clock.
"She really is in trouble."
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "Theresa May must stop passing the buck and take personal responsibility for the Brexit crisis created as a result of her own intransigence.
"The Tory leader's damaging Brexit deal is fundamentally flawed and would be devastating for Scotland - inflicting lasting harm on jobs, living standards, our public services and the economy.
"With three weeks to go until the UK is due to crash out of the EU, it is vital that MPs reject May's bad deal, extend Article 50, and hold a second referendum on EU membership."
Labour's Jo Stevens, who supports the Best for Britain campaign, said: "It smacks of complete hypocrisy to hear the Prime Minister saying the EU’s behaviour will determine the outcome of next week’s vote.
“She and her government are the only people responsible for this whole debacle. Their botched deal and tactic of running down the clock to scare people with a no deal disaster will be judged by future generations.
"If Theresa May is really interested in getting this right, there's an easy solution: ask the public what they want."
Lots of Twitter action on this highly entertaining clash between author Will Self and Brexiteer Mark Francois.
Great Grimsby's Labour MP Melanie Onn met Theresa May after her speech but said the PM needed to move closer to the opposition's position.
"She must be aware that if she needs to get the deal through and the backstop arrangements are insufficient to secure the support from her back benches, there will need to be movement towards securing more support from Labour members," she told BBC Radio 4's World At One.
Asked if she could back the deal, the shadow housing minister said: "As it stands, no. Nothing has changed from when she brought it forward in January."
Labour's recent shift in favour of backing a second Brexit referendum could fail to deliver a People's Vote, a member of Jeremy Corbyn's frontbench team has conceded.
Lesley Laird, the shadow Scottish secretary, said while the party would "keep fighting" there is not sufficient support in the Commons for a Final Say vote to get the go-ahead.
In a speech to the Scots Labour conference, she said: "Labour will not accept Theresa May's botched Brexit. And Labour will certainly not accept no deal."
With the PM facing a series of crunch votes in the Commons next week, she added: "Parliamentary processes will soon be exhausted with all options explored.
"And if there is no resolution that meets our tests then, as our conference motion compels us to do, we will seek to put it back to the people."
In September last year, delegates at Labour's UK conference had overwhelmingly backed keeping the option of a fresh ballot "on the table".
But it was only last month, after Labour's alternative Brexit proposals were rejected by MPs, that the party leadership spoke out in favour of a second European referendum.
Ms Laird said: "That path is not smooth. Right now there is no parliamentary majority for this.
"Ultimately no matter what outcome we want to achieve, if we can not get the numbers we will not win the vote.
"But we cannot give up. We must keep fighting. We must reject Theresa May's shoddy deal and we must get no deal off the table.
Stepping away from the Brexit chaos for a moment, Andrew Grice has taken a hard look at what's going on with Labour and the newly-formed Independent Group.
He says: "I think we are heading for a socialist party backed by the trade unions, a Conservative Party that defies predictions it will split over Brexit and a new progressive centre party.
"The early signs are that TIG can fill this gap."
Read his column here:
Ireland’s prime minister has turned the tables on Theresa May in Brexit talks, warning that she should in fact be making concessions to the EU if she wants changes to the agreement.
Leo Varadkar on Friday said talks were actually “a question of what they are willing to offer us” as Ms May urged concessions from the bloc. He said the UK had made no offer and should change its approach.
More here from our Europe correspondent Jon Stone:
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