Theresa May was back in mainland Europe, after winning her vote of no-confidence, hoping to get some extra concessions from EU power brokers.
However, it looks like her desperate requests havefallen on deaf ears. May was hoping they would concede ground on the Irish backstop, but Jean-Claude Junker knocked back her plan, to impose a 12 month limit on the plan to avoid a hard border with Ireland.
May is desperately trying to appease her party who have descended into civil war. Without any changes to her existing deal it is unlikely her deal will pass through a vote in Parliament. The date for the vote, which was cancelled in the last minute has still not been set.
Junker said: “We don’t want the UK to think there can be any form of renegotiation, that is crystal clear. We can add clarifications but no real change.
“Our UK friends need to say what they want, rather than asking what we want.”
Irish premier, Leo Varadkar, ruled out more concessions. After a meeting with Mrs May, he said: “As the European Union we are very keen to offer explanations, assurances, clarifications… anything that may assist MPs to understand the agreement and, hopefully, support it. But the backstop is not on the table.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, didn’t sound impressed, he said: “The legal framework and agreement negotiated are not supposed to change.”
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel added: “I do not see that the withdrawal agreement can be changed.”
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/opinion/as-tories-quibble-amongst-each-other-this-is-whats-happening-on-the-streets-of-britain/13/12/