Image copyright Getty Images UK Prime Minister Theresa May is set to confirm she will not change tack on Brexit despite her Chequers plan being rejected by EU leaders.
Mrs May will shortly make a statement in Downing Street on the state of Brexit negotiations following a summit of EU leaders in Salzburg.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said there was no “credible alternative” on the table from the EU at the talks.
And he expressed doubt over how serious EU leaders were about the negotiations.
He told the BBC’s Politics Live: “It did not feel like the reciprocation of the statesmanlike approach that she (Mrs May) has taken”.
He added: “We have been rebuffed on our plans without any coherent explanation as to why.”
And he said the UK government was “going to hold our nerve, stay calm and keep negotiating in good faith”.
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The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.
Mrs May says her plan for the UK and EU to share a “common rulebook” for goods, but not services, is the only credible way to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
But it is opposed by some within her own party who argue it would compromise the UK’s sovereignty. And it got a cool reception at this week’s EU summit in Austria.
In a news conference, European Council President Donald Tusk said there were some “positive elements” in Mrs May’s proposals, known as the Chequers plan.
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But he said EU leaders had agreed that the proposals needed to be redrawn: “The suggested framework for economic co-operation will not work, not least because it is undermining the single market.”
He followed it up by posting a photograph on Instagram of he and Mrs May looking at cakes with the caption: “A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.”
The EU has argued that the UK cannot “cherry-pick” elements from its rulebook.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told RTÉ on Friday: “I am working every day, as are people across Europe and the UK government to avoid a scenario where we have a no deal, hard Brexit next March.”
He said there would be a “rocky patch over the next couple of weeks” but he believed a deal could be reached.
The UK and EU are trying to reach a deal by mid-November and want to avoid a hard border – physical infrastructure like cameras or guard posts – between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic but cannot agree on how.
The EU insists on its own “legally binding Irish backstop” – what it describes as an insurance policy to prevent a hard border, if no other solution can be found.
It suggests Northern Ireland should stay aligned with the EU in key areas, in effect staying in the customs union and single market. But the UK says this is unacceptable as it would split Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
Content provided by the BBC. Original piece can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45603192
