UK PM May demands new proposals from EU to break ‘impasse’

British PM Theresa May has demanded that the EU bring to the negotiating table a set of new proposals to break the “impasse,” declaring she will not “overturn the result of the referendum nor will I break up my country.”

Following the summit in Salzburg, Austria, of the 27 EU member states where EC President Donald Tusk declared May’s proposed economic partnership with the EU post-Brexit would “not work,” the UK PM has hit back saying "neither side should demand the unacceptable of the other."

In her Downing Street address, she warned that EU proposals concerning the single market would lead to uncontrolled immigration and “make a mockery” of the EU referendum result. May also claimed that the EU’s Irish “backstop” proposal is unworkable, which would threaten the “integrity of the UK.”

May said: “The EU is proposing to achieve this [backstop] by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the Customs Union. As I have already said, that is unacceptable. We will never agree to it.”

“It would mean breaking up our country. We will set out our alternative that preserves the integrity of the UK,” she added.

READ MORE: EU’s Tusk delivers savage blow to Theresa May: Brexit plan ‘will not work’

Bloomberg reported Sterling taking a hit after May’s Brexit speech, dropping 1.2% against the Dollar. Reaction on social media to the PM's speech has been less than glowing. Pro-EU Labour backbencher David Lammy, tweeted that "no-one voted for the no deal we're on track for."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has responded to May’s speech insisting “no deal is not an option” and hit out at the government’s negotiating tactics. He also called on both the government and the EU to end the “political games.”

Corbyn said: “Theresa May’s Brexit negotiating strategy has been a disaster. The Tories have spent more time arguing among themselves than negotiating with the EU.

“From day one, the Prime Minister has looked incapable of delivering a good Brexit deal for Britain. The political games from both the EU and our Government need to end because no deal is not an option.”

Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, labelled the Brexit statement as “dreadful,” saying the EU’s view is nothing new, but May “just hasn’t been listening.”

Formal negotiations on withdrawal began between the UK and the EU in June 2017 and talks on issues such as the rights of EU citizens and the Irish border have been slow going.

On July 6, 2018, after a marathon 12-hour showdown at Chequers, May finally managed to secure a Brexit plan to present to the EU. The Chequers deal was labelled a “stinker” by Boris Johnson as the plan would see the UK remain closely tied to the EU – but after the Salzburg summit Brussels dismissed it too, talks have now reached an impasse.

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