British lawmakers on Tuesday instructed Prime Minister Theresa May to demand that Brussels replace the Irish border arrangement known as the “backstop”, in a last-ditch attempt to renegotiate an exit treaty that the European Union says it will not change.
France on Tuesday rejected any renegotiation of the EU-UK divorce deal and urged Britain to make credible proposals after British lawmakers passed a motion instructing their government to secure changes to a key element of the deal.
The European Union on Monday adopted quotas for farming produce it will accept from third countries after Britain leaves the bloc and acknowledged this could happen before it has concluded talks with them on the subject.
The United Kingdom government will support a backbench amendment to the Brexit deal that calls for the planned Irish backstop to be replaced by alternative arrangements. Tory MPs will be told to vote for Sir Graham Brady's proposal when the Commons votes on a series of amendments to Theresa May's plan on Tuesday.
There is a high risk of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal by accident, the EU's deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand has said. She added there was “full ownership of what was agreed” in the EU, but “no ownership” of it in the UK Parliament. And it was a challenge to see how a majority for any deal could be built among MPs, she added.
Gibraltar has intensified its contact on Brexit with senior United Kingdom parliamentarians both in the House of Commons and the House of Lords in order to put across the position of Gibraltar. The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia took advantage of their visit to London last week to meet opinion-formers on the Remain and the Leave sides of the argument.
Theresa May is being urged to secure changes from the EU to the Northern Irish backstop element of her Brexit deal to get it past parliament. Ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson says winning a freedom clause would be unadulterated good Brexit news.
British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday he believed the EU might compromise over a Brexit deal in a way that would persuade lawmakers in London to support it.
Jaguar Land Rover is to extend its annual April shutdown in car production because of uncertainties around Brexit. The UK's biggest carmaker will be idle for an extra week because of fears of disruption at its car and engine plants at Liverpool, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
The Queen has urged people to find common ground and to respect different points of view. Commentators say the remarks will be seen as referring to the Brexit debate, with MPs due to vote on the PM's deal for leaving the EU again next week.