Europe rejects Theresa May’s backstop gambit
Preparations for a no-deal Brexit are to “intensify” after European leaders firmly shut the door on British prime minister Theresa May’s desire to renegotiate the Northern Irish backstop.
After a day of chaos in Westminster, where Ms May dramatically announced the deferral of a House of Commons vote on the withdrawal agreement, the British prime minister was accused of causing a “national humiliation”.
She admitted that she would have lost the vote, due to take place today, by a “significant margin”.
Ms May will now travel to Europe in the hope of securing new reassurances from EU leaders to allay MPs’ concerns about proposed backstop arrangements for the Northern Irish border.
However, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Simon Coveney, and EU Council president Donald Tusk all made it clear there can be no renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement.
Mr Varadkar and Mr Tusk spoke by telephone and it was agreed that the withdrawal agreement is the best option and could not be renegotiated.
“They also agreed that preparations for a ‘no- deal’ outcome should intensify,” said a Government statement.
Mr Tusk announced that Brexit has been added to the agenda of a two-day EU summit in Brussels taking place on Thursday and Friday, but insisted no altering of the deal will take place.
“We will not renegotiate the deal, including the backstop, but we are ready to discuss how to facilitate UK ratification,” he said. “As time is running out, we will also discuss our preparedness for a no-deal scenario.”
Mr Varadkar said that to reopen one aspect of the deal would mean opening the entire deal for renegotiation, and that was not possible.
“What I can say is that the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish backstop, is the only agreement on the table,” he said. “It took over a year and a half to negotiate, it has the support of 28 governments, and it is not possible to re-open any aspect of that agreement without opening all aspects.”
Mr Varadkar said Ireland and the EU have already made many concessions to the UK and it is not possible to make any more.
“No one should ever forget how we got to this point,” he said. “The UK decided to leave the EU. The UK government decided to take lots of options off the table whether it was staying in the customs union or the single market or in relation to a Northern Ireland specific backstop. So the reason we ended up in the situation we are in is because of the red lines.
“We have already offered a lot of concessions. We ended up with the backstop because of all of the red lines that the UK laid down. I have no difficulty with statements which clarify what is in the withdrawal agreement but no statement can contradict what is in the withdrawal agreement.”
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Coveney said that the withdrawal agreement allowed for “a managed and sensible exit” from the EU by Britain and would not be changed.
Ms May yesterday told the House of Commons the meaningful vote was being deferred because widespread and deep concern remains on the Northern Ireland backstop.
However, she insisted that there was “no deal available that does not include the backstop”.
Meanwhile, there was uproar in the House of Commons last night as Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle picked up the ceremonial mace that represents the parliament’s royal authority in a bid to delay proceedings. After briefly making to remove the mace amid cries of outrage from fellow MPs, he returned it to its place and was ordered from the chamber for the day.
Elsewhere, former British prime minister John Major has launched a scathing attack on what he described as the “breathtaking” ignorance of the so-called unionists who are opposed to the backstop in the Brexit deal.
Speaking in Longford, Mr Major has warned about the dangers of violence returning if a hard border is ever restored.
