Brexit: EU ‘united’ on deal as Theresa May asks for talks

UK Prime Minister Theresa May

The EU is “united” over the negotiated Brexit deal, the bloc’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier says, after the UK PM said she wants to reopen it.

Theresa May is expected to continue talks with the EU after MPs backed a plan to renegotiate her Brexit deal.

MPs voted 317 to 301 in favour of changing the backstop plan – the bit of the deal designed to avoid the return of Northern Ireland border checks.

But Mr Barnier said the EU stood by the existing withdrawal agreement.

“The EU institutions remain united and we stand by the agreement we have negotiated with the UK,” he said.

Meanwhile, employers’ group the CBI said businesses were likely to accelerate their plans for a no-deal Brexit.

Carolyn Fairbairn, head of the CBI, said: “I don’t think there will be a single business this morning who is stopping or halting their no-deal planning as a result of what happened yesterday.

“The amendment feels like a real throw of the dice.”

BBC