SPAIN RELIEF
Theresa May gives in to Spain’s Brexit veto threat over Gibraltar as deal to leave EU set to be signed off tomorrow
Mrs May has arrived in Brussels this evening for prep talks and dinner with EU leaders ahead of the special summit
THERESA May has given in to Spain's Brexit veto threat over Gibraltar as a deal to leave the EU is set to be signed tomorrow.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said Britain and the EU have agreed to its demands to have a say over Gibraltar's future.
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Mrs May ignored questions about whether she had compromised on Gibraltar as she arrived in Brussels for talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk ahead of the summit.
But she has made clear that Britain will negotiate future agreements on behalf of all territories for whose external relations it is responsible - including Gibraltar.
The PM told reporters in Brussels: "The UK's position on the sovereignty of Gibraltar has not changed and will not change. I am proud that Gibraltar is British and I will always stand by Gibraltar."
Spain said it wants a say on how any UK-EU trade deal applies to Gibraltar and had threatened to veto the Brexit deal if its demands weren't met.
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Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez speaks after reaching a deal with the UK over Gibraltar
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Mrs May arrived in Brussels this evening for prep talks and dinner with EU leaders ahead of the special summit tomorrow morning.
Mr Tusk sent out formal invitation letters to EU leaders for the summit, saying the Brexit deal reached by negotiators from the UK and Brussels "found the best possible compromise".
Earlier today, Mr Tusk said: "I will recommend that we approve on Sunday the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
"No-one has reasons to be happy. But at least at this critical time, the EU27 has passed the test of unity and solidarity."
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May was on her way to Brussels when the Gibraltar deal came through.
Spain wants the future of the tiny territory, which was ceded to Britain in 1713 but is still claimed by Spain, to be a bilateral issue between Madrid and London, not between Britain and the EU.
The PM hopes to leave EU headquarters on Sunday with a firm agreement on the withdrawal terms for Britain's departure from the EU on March 29.
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Back in the UK, Mrs May's plans for Brexit continued to run into trouble.
Boris Johnson claimed Britain would become a "satellite state" of the EU unless it "junks" May's plan.
Johnson accused EU leaders of pulling a "clever trick" by making Northern Ireland an "indispensable bargaining chip".
The deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland used a party conference speech to try to persuade her to change course Saturday
Nigel Dodds told the conference in Belfast her proposed Brexit agreement reached with the EU would leave the U.K. in a "pitiful and pathetic place."
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