Brexit: Theresa May will ask the EU to reopen Brexit deal

Theresa May has told MPs she will seek to re-open negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland backstop.

The PM said she would go back to Brussels to get a “significant and legally binding change” to the controversial proposal, which aims to stop the return of border checks.

The EU has said it will not change the legal text agreed with the UK PM.

Mrs May said she knew there was a “limited appetite” in the EU, but she believed she could “secure” it.

Senior Brexiteer rebels – who voted down the PM’s deal last month – have indicated they would be willing to back the rest of the UK-EU Brexit deal if she gets legal changes to the backstop.

The backstop is the insurance policy in Mrs May’s plan to prevent checks on goods and people returning to the Northern Ireland border, which some MPs fear could leave the UK tied to the EU’s rules indefinitely.

But some MPs from the PM’s own backbenches, who backed Remain in the referendum, will support rival proposals to try and rule out the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Source: BBC News