LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union (all times local):
11:55 a.m.
European Council President Donald Tusk has blasted British politicians who lobbied for the U.K. to leave the European Union without first working out how to do it.
Tusk said: “I have been wondering what a special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of plan how to carry it safely.”
Tusk gave no indication that the other 27 EU countries will be up for reopening the Brexit withdrawal agreement that British Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated but which was overwhelmingly rejected by U.K. lawmakers.
Speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Tusk said “the EU 27 is not making any new offer” to the British government to help pass their Brexit divorce deal in the U.K. parliament.
They both underlined that preparations are being intensified for a potentially disastrous no-deal scenario under which Britain would leave the EU on March 29 without an agreement.
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9:30 a.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to meet with Northern Ireland’s main political parties as she seeks to break the impasse over her European Union divorce deal.
May is signaling she will seek changes to the deal rather than outright removal of the so-called backstop, designed to preserve the open border between Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland. The border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict, and the free flow of people and goods across the frontier underpins the region’s peace process.
May, during a speech Tuesday in Belfast, restated her “unshakeable” commitment to avoiding a hard border and said she didn’t plan to remove the “insurance policy” entirely.
“What Parliament has said is that they believe there should be changes made to the backstop,” she said.
