Theresa May to make last-ditch plea to EU to agree backstop changes
Prime Minister will tell Brussels ‘the EU has to make a choice too’

Theresa May will make a last-ditch plea to the EU to agree legally binding changes to the controversial backstop to allow her party’s MPs to back it.
In a move that the BBC says is “an admission of how tough negotiations with the EU were proving”, she will say later: “Just as MPs will face a big choice next week, the EU has to make a choice too”.
Speaking to workers in Leave-supporting Grimsby, she will tell the EU: “We are both participants in this process. It is in the European interest for the UK to leave with a deal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“We are working with them but the decisions that the European Union makes over the next few days will have a big impact on the outcome of the vote.”
EU sources have told Sky News that Brussels would take a “dim view” of her words while Labour's Sir Keir Starmer said it was now “clear” the PM “will not be able to deliver the changes she promised to her failed Brexit deal”.
The shadow Brexit secretary added: “This speech looks set to be an admission of failure.”
Since MPs overwhelming rejected the prime minister's deal in January, the largest defeat for a sitting government in history, May has concentrated on modifying the backstop, an insurance policy designed to prevent physical checks on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The vast majority of Tory Brexiteers bitterly oppose the backstop in its current form.
Despite reports that London has been focusing on the backstop in talks with the EU this week, the Daily Telegraph reports a senior figure in Emmanuel Macron's French government as claiming the UK had not actually made a formal offer to the EU on proposed changes to the backstop.
However, UK attorney general Geoffrey Cox insists that government plans to resolve the issue were “as clear as day” and talks with the European leaders would “almost certainly” continue throughout the weekend.
Most observers remain pessimistic. The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg says “the mood is not good around the government” while The Independent says “the mood of cabinet ministers has been grim in recent days”.
As the clock ticks down to next week’s second meaningful vote and the overall deadline of 29 March, Cabinet Brexiteer Liam Fox told the BBC's Newsnight he was concerned that Brexit may end up being cancelled.
“The thing that I fear is that... there will be a risk that we might not deliver Brexit at all,” he said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How will the next pope change the Catholic Church?
Talking Points Conclaves can be unpredictable
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Conspiracy theorists circle again following RFK file release
The Explainer Both RFK and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, have been the subjects of conspiracies
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
7 equestrian activities for when you feel like horsin' around
The Week Recommends These graceful animals make any experience better
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US
-
Has Starmer put Britain back on the world stage?
Talking Point UK takes leading role in Europe on Ukraine and Starmer praised as credible 'bridge' with the US under Trump
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Left on read: Labour's WhatsApp dilemma
Talking Point Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as health minister over messages posted in a Labour WhatsApp group
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
New Year's Honours: why the controversy?
Today's Big Question London Mayor Sadiq Khan and England men's football manager Gareth Southgate have both received a knighthood despite debatable records
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Is there a Christmas curse on Downing Street?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer could follow a long line of prime ministers forced to swap festive cheer for the dreaded Christmas crisis
By The Week UK
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?
Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
By The Week UK
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK