Theresa May arrives in Brussels yesterday for a European summit to discuss the Brexit deal and single market LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGESLeo Varadkar and Theresa May have discussed the prospect of concluding negotiations on a future EU-UK deal so quickly that a final trade settlement would be reached long before the backstop needed to be invoked. The British prime minister last night issued a stark warning to Europe that the Brexit withdrawal treaty was “at risk” of failure unless it made further concessions on the Irish backstop. The taoiseach once again insisted that the backstop — the insurance policy to ensure there is no hard Irish border even if future trade talks fail — and the Brexit withdrawal agreement were “not on the table”. Mrs May told her fellow leaders that until they provided “reassurance” that the UK would not be “trapped” in an all-UK customs…

Source: The Times December 14, 2018 00:02 UTC