No-deal Brexit more likely
♦ EU says 'no' to renegotiation, steps up planning for no-deal
♦ May's opponents say she has failed; calls grow for second referendum
Once again, the EU has sent Theresa May home with nothing.
European Union leaders rejected outright the British Prime Minister's last-ditch attempt to save her embattled Brexit deal, all but killing any hope of a parliamentary breakthrough in London and delivering a devastating blow to her authority.
After being forced to pull a vote on her deal in the House of Commons, May pleaded with EU leaders to bolt on legal assurances that would assuage lawmakers furious over a crucial element, the so-called Irish backstop.
But after an apparently lackluster presentation by May, EU leaders rejected the demands and instead stepped up plans for a no-deal Brexit.
In a late-night press conference, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was withering. "Our UK friends need to say what they want, rather than asking what we want," he told reporters.
While he said May had been "fighting hard and bravely," he expressed doubt that any deal would get through the British Parliament in its current form.
May's allies at home said the summit was a useful start, but the opposition Labour Party said May had failed and called to parliamentary vote on the deal that she postponed on Monday, fearing a heavy defeat, to be held next week.
Events of the past few months have solidified May's reputation as a political survivor. But the decision to call off the Brexit vote in parliament, followed by a no-confidence vote in which a third of her MPs registered their disapproval of her leadership, May is seriously weakened.
There's less than 70 days before the March 29 Brexit deadline, and precious little time to negotiate a new deal should the current one be voted down, even if the EU wanted to.
Labour and other opposition parties have pledged to call for a vote of no-confidence in the government, should May's bill be defeated. That could lead to a general election.
Amid the impasse, former Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday said that Britain and the European Union should prepare for a second Brexit referendum because parliament will probably fail to agree on a divorce deal and the public will need to break the deadlock.
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