Brexit: Theresa May to demand EU reopen talks on key parts of her deal, so Irish backstop can be changed

Theresa May will demand that the Brexit deal she sealed with Brussels is reopened in order to renegotiate key elements which Conservative MPs have refused to accept.

The prime minister will say that the withdrawal agreement must be revisited and the ‘Irish backstop’ changed, warning the EU that a failure to do so will mean the deal is blocked by the commons.

Ms May told cabinet this morning she will back the amendment from Sir Graham Brady which paves the way for her to go back to Brussels.

She also reiterated her position that the U.K. will leave the EU on March 29 regardless of what happens.

Speaking after cabinet on Tuesday, Ms May’s spokesman said: “The prime minister said that in order to win the support of the House of Commons, legal changes to the backstop will be required – that will mean reopening the withdrawal agreement.

“The PM said that parliament had said on many occasions what it does not want. The EU has asked us what we do want, what this parliament will accept – she said a vote for the Brady amendment makes it clear the current nature of the backstop is the key reason that the house cannot support the deal.”

Sir Graham’s proposed amendment would see parliament accept the withdrawal agreement struck with Brussels as long as the backstop is replaced with alternative arrangements for preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Ms May believes a move by the commons to back the Brady amendment would make clear the will of the commons to leave the EU with a deal and a commitment to avoid a hard border, but it would also pave the way for a discussion on “how best to achieve that”.

In a bid to stop MPs from supporting other amendments today that could remove no-deal Brexit as an option, her official spokesman reiterated that there woul be other opportuities for MPs to vote on such proposals further down the line.

He said Ms May aims to return to the commons “as soon as possible” with a revised deal agreed with the EU which will be subject to a “meaningful vote” by MPs. If this is rejected by MPs, she will table a further amendable motion for debate the next day – representing an opportunity for MPs to propose alternative paths at that point.

Alternatively, if she cannot secure changes to the withdrawal agreement by February 13, Ms May will make a statement to the house that day and table an amendable motion for debate the following day, again giving MPs a chance to propose different plans for the country.

A string of European figures have already indicated there is little willingness in Brussels to reopen the withdrawal agreement, with the European Parliament’s Brexit spokesman Guy Verhofstadt suggesting only this moring that MEPs would veto a deal which altered the backstop.

But Ms May’s spokesman said the prime minister would be speaking to European politicians through the course of Tuesday to explain the UK’s position.

He went on: “There is a very clear message from the EU’s leaders, that they want [the UK] to leave with a deal and that they understand this is in the best interests of both the EU as well as the UK.

“The deal which was put before the House of Commons was rejected by 230 votes, in which case if the deal is to be passed, and with it the withdrawal agreement, there will have to be changes.”

Her move was designed to convince enough MPs to back the Brady amendmnet on Tuesday evening to give it a majority, allowing her to say in Brussels that the commons has spoken and that it is asking for the backstop to be changed.

But the strength of her negotiating position could be undermined if the commons also backs an amendment from the senior Labour backbencher Yvette Cooper, which would wrestle control of the Brexit process from the government in order to block a no-deal scenario.

Labour confirmed that it would give frontbench support to the Cooper amendment “to reduce the threat of the chaos of a no deal”, making it more likely that it would pass on Tuesday.