Brexit EU summit LIVE: EU leaders issue ultimatum to MPs — back May's deal or get nothing
The prime minister says this is the 'best deal possible' and she will make the case to parliament and to the public
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Your support makes all the difference.EU leaders have challenged MPs to either back Theresa May’s Brexit deal or face up to the economic consequences of crashing out of the bloc.
Heads of its 27 member states took little more than half an hour this morning to rubber-stamp the agreement setting the terms for Britain's departure.
However, the deal now faces a vote in the House of Commons, where the odds appear stacked against it as MPs of all stripes, including a significant portion of the prime minister’s own party, have made their opposition clear.
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Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, warned them the agreement was the “only deal possible” and hopes that a better one could be struck were in vain.
“Those who think by rejecting the deal that they would have a better deal will be disappointed in the first seconds after the rejection of this deal,” he said.
In a veiled plea to MPs Michel Barnier, Europe’s chief negotiator, called on “everyone to face up to their responsibilities”.
Mr Barnier said the deal with the UK was a "necessary step" to advance to the next phase of the negotiations.
"I have worked with my team and negotiated with the UK, never against the UK," he told reporters as he arrived for the summit.
"Now it is time for everybody to take their responsibility. This deal is a necessary step to build the trust between the UK and the EU we need to build.
"The next phase is an unprecedented and ambitious partnership. We will remain allies, partners and friends."
Ms May has written a letter to the British public pleading for the country’s support over the deal.
In her letter she promised a “brighter future” and said that Brexit would be "a moment of renewal and reconciliation for our whole country".
Former leader of the Conservative party Lord Howard told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend that he is backing Ms May and her deal.
It's not a deal that is a good deal for the UK in several respects, but the one sticking point that I have relates to the arrangements for leaving the backstop.
As members of the European Union we had a unilateral, untrammelled right to leave under Article 50 which we are exercising.
Under the backstop arrangements we could only leave with the permission of the European Union.
That seems to me to be an absolute negation of taking control, that would put us in a worse position than we are now.
Brexit Minister Lord Callanan reiterated the government's position on the The World This Weekend that there is no plan B.
There is no Plan B. This is the plan, this is the deal.
It is the best deal that could be negotiated under the circumstances and we will be urging all of our colleagues in the House of Commons to vote for it.
If this deal is rejected, the EU have made it very clear there is no alternative deal that could be envisaged so therefore we are in no-deal territory.
Steve Brine, the parliamentary under-secretary for public health and primary care, has backed May and her deal.
He says: "This is about jobs and our economy".
Juncker has said that if parliament votes down the deal, there will no-deal, according to the BBC's Katy Adler.
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