U.K. Dismisses EU Offer on Brexit Backstop as ‘Disappointing’

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U.K. House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom called the latest Brexit offer from the European Union “disappointing,” and suggested Parliament may have additional chances to vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal.

Leadsom said she is “absolutely astonished” that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier offered a new package of concessions on the Irish border backstop, with the most striking element to allow it to apply just to Northern Ireland, rather than the whole of the U.K.

“He seems to be on Twitter offering to go back to negotiations that were ruled out several months ago suggesting somehow that the United Kingdom should be split up and we should have a border down the Irish Sea,” Leadsom said Saturday in an interview with Bloomberg. “That is disappointing. We are within a few days of the next meaningful vote.”

May has promised that if Parliament rejects her withdrawal treaty, it will then get a vote on whether to take the country out of the EU into legal limbo -- an option previous ballots have shown it will reject. Then there will be a vote on postponing the March 29 exit day.

Asked if lawmakers could get more votes on the deal after Tuesday if the EU gives ground later, Leadsom said: “Certainly, in the event that we can get the changes that Parliament wants, then Parliament will be given opportunities to support the deal.”

The focus this weekend is on getting the deal passed on Tuesday.

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