Merkel won't help: Berlin denies sweetening Brexit deal ahead of seemingly doomed vote in Parliament

The German government has denied a British report which claims Berlin offered London extra concessions on the terms of Britain’s divorce from the EU ahead of a key Parliament vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

On Tuesday, the British parliament is to vote on the deal which May’s government negotiated with Brussels to make the country’s exit from the European Union less chaotic.

MP’s are expected to reject the agreement. The Sun tabloid claimed ahead of the vote that German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a last-ditch intervention, which involves a promise of “extra concessions” from the EU to sweeten the divorce agreement.

The offer has given a “fresh hope of eventual success” to May, the newspaper claimed. But the report was denied by a spokesman for the German government, who said no assurances were given to London beyond those already stated in a letter from top EU officials, and published on Monday.

May’s divided cabinet has until March 29 to convince legislators that the terms of the Brexit deal should be accepted, as the alternative is a so-called “hard Brexit” that would be “catastrophic” for Britain.

May insists that those are the only options left and that both postponing the separation from the EU and holding a new referendum on whether to leave at all would cause even more damage.

As the vote looms, the prime minister is also facing a no-confidence vote which the Labor opposition threatened to initiate after May’s Brexit proposal fails.

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