Theresa May travels to Brussels in attempt to break Brexit deadlock
Theresa May - image credit: PA
Theresa May will make an emergency visit to Brussels today in an attempt to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations.
The Prime Minister will be joined by Brexit Secretary David Davis for a dinner with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
The meeting comes just days after both Barnier and Juncker warned the negotiations over Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc were failing to progress.
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May also appealed directly to German chancellor Angela Merkel during a phone call last night.
According to Downing Street the pair agreed on the "importance of continued constructive progress" in the Brexit talks.
Despite the crunch dinner meeting only being announced yesterday, Downing Street sources insisted it had “been in the diary for weeks”, according to various reports.
May wants to push forward to discuss the future trade relationship between Britain and the EU, but EU leaders insist exit factors such as the so-called Brexit ‘divorce bill’ must be settled first.
She is hoping she can persuade them to agree to start trade talks ahead of the European Council meeting between heads of state on Thursday and Friday.
But after the fifth round of negotiations ended in stalemate last week, Barnier said he could not recommend a change to the timetable.
It comes after Labour vowed to stop the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on their future relationship.
A cross-party group of MPs has tabled amendments to the European Union (withdrawal) bill in a bid to make a ‘no-deal’ scenario impossible.
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