Theresa May to renegotiate Brexit deal after MPs vote for Irish backstop to be ripped up

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Theresa May to renegotiate Brexit deal after MPs vote for Irish backstop to be ripped up

British Prime Minister Theresa May talks with European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, as she arrives to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss Brexit, at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Walschaerts

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  • MPs have voted for a plan to send Theresa May back to Brussels renegotiate her Brexit deal.
  • The Brady amendment, which passed by 317 votes to 301, demands that the Irish backstop is removed from the Brexit withdrawal agreement and replaced with alternative arrangements.
  • The EU has already said it will reject the plan and warned the Brexit deal is not open for renegotiation.

LONDON - Theresa May will return to Brussels in a bid to renegotiate her Brexit deal after MPs voted to demand changes to the controversial Northern Ireland backstop.

The UK House of Commons voted in favour of an amendment which demands that the Irish backstop - a measure opposed by many Tory MPs - is removed from the Withdrawal Agreement and replaced with "alternative arrangements."

The Conservative party whipped its MPs in favour of the amendment, with officials saying it would allow Theresa May to send a "clear message" to Brussels that the current deal, signed up to by the prime minister in November, is unacceptable.

The Brexit-supporting European Research Group of Tory MPs initially threatened to vote against the amendment because it was too vague, but eventually backed down on Tuesday.

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However, EU negotiators have repeatedly warned that the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation and senior EU figures are preparing to issue an immediate statement explaining that it will reject Theresa May's latest plan.

The EU's deputy chief Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand said on Monday: "We're not going to reopen the [Withdrawal] Agreement."

She said the EU was open to replacing the backstop with a viable alternative, but suggested the UK had failed to propose one.

"We're not wedded to our backstop," she said.

"We're open to alternative suggestions from the UK. The problem is there weren't any. Negotiators haven't been able to explain them to us. That's not their fault it's because they don't exist."

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What is the Irish backstop?

Irish border
The backstop is a fallback measure which seeks to avoid the emergence of border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The UK and EU agreed last year that such a measure was necessary to honour the Good Friday peace agreement, but Conservative Brexiteers who oppose it believe the measure it could keep the UK permanently bound within a customs union and divide Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

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