Theresa May 'determined' to leave EU on time

Theresa May has said she is "determined to deliver Brexit" as she prepares to renegotiate the Irish backstop.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister said she would return to Brussels with a "fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination".

Calls for an "alternative arrangement" for the Northern Ireland border were backed by MPs last Tuesday.

But the Irish deputy prime minister has said "there are no credible alternative arrangements" to the proposal.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Simon Coveney said: "The EU will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement and there will be no withdrawal agreement without the backstop."

Mr Coveney said the backstop was required to "ensure the protection of the Good Friday Agreement" which ended 30 years of armed struggle in Northern Ireland.

The backstop forms part of the withdrawal agreement negotiated by the UK and EU and is aimed at keeping the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic open after Brexit.

Mrs May said she rejected the suggestion "that seeking alternative arrangements for the backstop constituted 'ripping up the Good Friday Agreement'".

The prime minister added that MPs wanted the government to go back to Brussels to renegotiate the deal after the Commons voted in favour of Tory backbencher Sir Graham Brady's amendment which called for "alternative arrangements" to be found.

Courtesy:bbc news