Theresa May tells EU to get serious about Brexit deal – as she faces ‘hell week’ with nine days to save her Chequers plan
The Prime Minister is trying to win over her own MPs ahead of a crunch summit with EU leaders next week
THERESA May today warned the EU they must give more ground if they want to strike a Brexit deal in the next week.
The PM is being squeezed on all sides as she has just nine days to lock down her Brexit plan.
But she insisted the ball is still in Brussels' court - saying Eurocrats need to compromise ahead of a crunch summit next week.
EU officials declared over the weekend that the two sides are 90 per cent of the way to securing a deal.
But Westminster insiders have said Mrs May must endure a "hell week" as she tries to pin down the final ten per cent.
And the PM's spokesman warned today that a deal was not yet guaranteed.
He said: "We have always said that we are working hard for a deal this autumn and that continues at pace.
"It's worth me pointing out that there is a difference between people talking optimistically about a deal, and a deal actually being agreed.
"There remain big issues to work through and, as the PM has said, this will require movement on the EU side."
The spokesman insisted Mrs May won't sign up to a "blind Brexit", which would see us quit the EU in March without having a detailed agreement on the future trade deal between Britain and Europe.
If the EU summit next week goes as badly as last month's gathering in Salzburg, backbench MPs will ramp up their efforts to get Mrs May to dump the plan altogether.
Tory Brexiteers warned today that the "Irish backstop" - a proposal to keep Britain in the customs union if there is no other solution to the Irish border problem - must expire by 2022.
Otherwise Britain will be tied to the EU indefinitely and will not really have left, MPs .
The PM is hoping to sign off on a draft agreement when she meets European leaders in Brussels next Wednesday.
The deal could then be confirmed at a special summit scheduled for next month.
Mrs May will make her case to the Cabinet tomorrow, where some senior ministers are expected to demand that she prepare a Plan B for if Chequers collapses next week.
One source : "If there is another Salzburg-style rejection at the summit then things will start to get fruity."
Even if the PM does cut a deal with the EU, she faces a tricky time getting it through the Commons.
No 10 is trying to win over Labour MPs, arguing they should support her proposals rather than risk a No Deal scenario.
But even anti-Corbyn Labour figures have rejected the idea of propping up the Tories in power.
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And Tory Brexiteers say Mrs May risks a huge backlash if she continues to pursue the tactic.
Stewart Jackson, former chief of staff to David Davis, warned last night: "This is a waste of time.
"These Labour MPs won’t prop up a Conservative Government but the tactic will alienate many more Conservative MPs and members."
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