Theresa May warned 'time running short' to strike Brexit deal as prime minister refuses to alter course
Britain has been warned that time is "running short" to strike a Brexit deal, as Theresa May continues to be urged to rework her Chequers plan.
European leaders have ramped up the pressure on the Prime Minister despite her insistence that Chequers is the only route to a deal.
Mrs May insisted the UK's 29 March 2019 departure from the European Union will not change, and that the onus is on the bloc's leaders to find a solution – or face the prospect of a no-deal scenario.
She also faced down calls to hold a second referendum as leaders gathered in Salzburg to discuss the EU’s next move in the negotiations.
With the Irish border proving one of the biggest sticking points, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned that "time is running short" to reach a deal.
Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat has said there is "almost unanimous" support among EU leaders for Britain to hold a second referendum on membership of the union.
On BBC Radio 4's Today he said any deal would be "sub-optimal" to continued membership and “it won’t be as easy as yesterday to trade between the two sides”.
Czech prime minister Andrej Babis said: "We hope that finally we will reach a deal but basically I am very unhappy that the UK is leaving, so it would be better maybe to make another referendum and maybe the people in the meantime could change their view."
Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel said: I know that the Chequers plan is something that was not easy for Theresa May to pass through in her own Government.
"I am convinced that we will find an agreement, but time is getting short. We both need to find a compromise."
The Netherlands’ Mark Rutte said: "As long as there is no deal, there is the risk of 'no-deal'."
The Prime Minister set out her plans over dinner with her EU counterparts on Wednesday night.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the presentation was "interesting", adding: "It was polite, it was not aggressive, she was doing her job."
Mrs May said Chequers was "the only credible and negotiable plan on the table that delivers no hard border in Northern Ireland and also delivers on the vote of the British people".
She added: "If we are going to achieve a successful conclusion then, just as the UK has evolved its position, the EU will need to evolve its position, too."
UK Government sources revealed that Mrs May used Wednesday night’s dinner to acknowledge the difficulties and that she had "never pretended Brexit would be easy or simple".
She made clear the high stakes of the negotiations over the coming weeks if a deal is to be struck this autumn in time for ratification by March next year.
Despite the comments from Mr Muscat and Mr Babis, the Prime Minister showed no intention of giving ground on the issue of a so-called People’s Vote when asked about it at the summit on Wednesday.
"I want to be absolutely clear – this Government will never accept a second referendum," she said.
Thursday's agenda in Salzburg involves the leaders discussing internal security matters before talks over lunch – in Mrs May’s absence – about Brexit.