May hits back at EU for rejecting her Brexit plan

British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted the government would not alter its Brexit offer, as she hit back against the rejection of her so-called Chequers Plan by the EU leaders on Thursday, insisting their current demand that Britain remain in the European Economic Area and customs union would “make a mockery” of Britain’s 2016 referendum.

The other option being presented by Europe — which would involve a basic free trade agreement would maintain a hard border in Ireland and was unworkable, unacceptable and could never be agreed to by any British Prime Minister, she said.

She called for “respect” from the EU and for them to refrain from rejecting each other’s proposals without detailed explanations and counter proposals. “In the meantime, we must and will continue the work of preparing ourselves for no deal,” she said. “The referendum was the largest democratic exercise this country has ever undergone. To deny its legitimacy or frustrate its result threatens public trust in our democracy.”

Following the two-day summit in the Austrian city of Salzburg, European Commission President Donald Tusk said that May’s proposals — dubbed the Chequers Plan after the Prime Ministerial retreat at which they were forged over the summer — which would keep Britain closely aligned to the EU’s single market on agriculture and goods (but not services) via a common rule book “will not work” because it risked undermining the single market.

The developments were a blow to May, who has also faced fire from within her party and Brexit campaigners outside it to pursue a tougher stance with the EU. Earlier in the summer, Boris Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary over the issue, controversially likening the plans to a “suicide vest.” The developments also suggested that May’s strategy of appealing to individual EU leaders, away from Brussels, had also failed. French President Emmanuel Macron was particularly damning, calling the leaders of the Brexit campaign “liars.”

Second referendum

The failure of the Salzburg summit, with just over six months to go to the official date for Britain’s leaving the EU, has also renewed calls for a second referendum. Earlier this week, the People’s Vote campaign set out six scenarios in which a second public vote could be called, including through the rejection in Parliament of the deal negotiated with the EU, or if no deal had been reached by January 21. “It’s clear that there’s no good Brexit deal on offer —only workable plan is a People’s Vote to give the public control on the final deal,” said the campaign group in a statement on Friday.

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