May to speak to every EU leader in bid to break Brexit deadlock

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Europe

British Prime Minister Theresa May Saturday vowed to speak to every EU member state leader "over the coming days," as she wrote to Conservative MPs to appeal for unity over Brexit following this week's symbolic defeat in parliament.

In the letter to her fractious colleagues, excerpts of which were released by Downing Street late Saturday, May urged the party to "move beyond what divides us" and the Conservative Party needs to sacrifice "personal preferences" for the "higher service of the national interest."

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In her letter, May called the vote "disappointing" but insisted she would keep seeking to secure changes to the so-called backstop arrangement in the deal.

Her office revealed she planned "to speak to the leader of every EU member state in the coming days."

"I do not underestimate how deeply or how sincerely colleagues hold the views which they do on this important issue," May told the Conservatives, referring to Brexit.

"But I believe that a failure to make the compromises necessary... will let down the people who sent us to represent them," she warned.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves from the rear of 10 Downing Street ahead of a vote on amendments to the Brexit withdrawal bill, London, February 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

"Our party can do what it has done so often in the past: move beyond what divides us and come together behind what unites us."

May also confirmed that she would return to Brussels next week for further talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will on Monday meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier to discuss proposals put forward by a new "working group" of British lawmakers exploring alternatives to the backstop, according to her office.

Thursday, MPs rejected a motion expressing support for May's efforts to seek changes to her under-fire agreement, after members of her own Conservative party abstained.

(Cover: Theresa May speaks to journalists following her meeting with Donald Tusk, president of the EU, in Brussels, Belgium, February 7, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters