Brexit news latest: DUP dismisses Michel Barnier proposal as Theresa May says EU withdrawal could be cancelled if deal rejected

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Theresa May on Brexit: without a deal 'we might never leave the EU at all'

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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Key Points

• PM delivers speech in last ditch plea for EU to give ground in Brexit negotiations
• Michel Barnier says UK would have unilateral right to leave customs union
• Corbyn warns May second defeat for deal will be ‘the end of the road’
• May should be offering concessions to EU, says Irish PM
• Belgium tells companies to halt exports to UK after 29 March

[8 March 2019 20:34 · Adam Forrest]

Yet more from Jeremy Corbyn’s speech in Dundee. A key section of his address to Labour activists was focused on climate change, with the leader insisting this was “fundamentally” a class issue.

“It’s working class communities that suffer the worst pollution and the worst air quality,” he said. “It’s working class people who will lose their jobs as resources run dry. And it’s working class people who will be left behind as the rich escape rising sea levels.”

Mr Corbyn added: “We need to reduce our net emissions to zero by 2050 at the latest, it’s not just an ecological priority, it’s a socialist priority too.

“So we’ll put public investment into renewable energy on a massive scale. Because given the gravity of the emergency we need nothing less than a green industrial revolution.”

[8 March 2019 20:48 · Adam Forrest]

Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, is doing his best to sound upbeat – despite another day of dismal rhetoric in the Brexit negotiations.

[8 March 2019 20:53 · Adam Forrest]

We'll leave you tonight with the words of Prime Minister Theresa May, who today made a desperate plea for MPs to back her Brexit deal in Parliament.