A spokesman for EU Council President Donald Tusk however swiftly said the Brexit deal was “not open for renegotiation” while French President Emmanuel Macron said it was the “best agreement possible”. She said parliament’s approval of the backstop amendment gave her the “mandate” to “seek to obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement”. Brexit hardliners from May’s Conservative party think the backstop — created to keep the border open with Ireland — could see Britain indefinitely tied to EU trade rules. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier’s deputy Sabine Weyand on Monday remarked that the current political debate in Britain felt “like Groundhog Day”. She said Britain risked crashing out of the EU without a deal “by accident” because London cannot decide what it wants.

Source: Egypt Independent January 30, 2019 06:33 UTC