EU leaders wary of May’s plea for help selling Brexit deal
BRUSSELS — British Prime Minister Theresa May implored European Union leaders Thursday to help her sell the Brexit divorce deal at home, only to be told that her proposals are not clear enough for the bloc to offer a helping hand now.
Instead, the EU said it would plow ahead with plans for a cliff-edge “no-deal” Brexit on March 29, with a raft of contingency measures to be presented next week.
May came to an EU summit in Brussels seeking support after a week that saw her Brexit deal pilloried in Parliament and her job threatened by lawmakers from her own party. She pleaded with the 27 other EU leaders to “hold nothing in reserve” in helping her sell the Brexit deal to hostile British lawmakers.
“There is a majority in my Parliament who want to leave with a deal, so with the right assurances this deal can be passed,” May said, warning her EU counterparts that failure could mean Britain crashing out of the bloc without a deal, “with all the disruption that would bring.”