(Bloomberg) -- Theresa May spoke on Wednesday to the leader of the Northern Irish party that's standing in the way of a Brexit deal, but an agreement remains elusive.
May is battling on two fronts at home, while European officials are being unusually friendly. May faces a cabinet revolt after two pro-Brexit ministers expressed concern she was watering down Brexit. And she urgently needs to find a proposal that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party can accept on what the Irish border will look like after Brexit.
She has until the end of the week to take some new ideas to Brussels, or risk failing to secure the breakthrough next week that would allow Brexit negotiations to finally move on to the trade deal businesses are desperate to see.
Meanwhile it emerged that the Cabinet hasn't decided what it wants that final trade deal to look like. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said the formal discussion hadn't taken place and it would be premature to have one now. The EU, by contrast, has started talking about what it wants from a trade deal, and has already mapped out a rough outline.
In other developments:
- Davis Accused of Misleading Parliament Over Brexit Studies
- Juncker Supporting May to Help Avoid Govt Collapse: EU Official
- Pound Falls as May Faces Revolt From All Sides Over Brexit
- How Much Does It Cost to Leave EU Trade Bloc? U.K. Doesn't Know
Coming Up:
- Dec 8: Barnier speaks in Paris
- Dec. 11: EU leaders representatives meet in Brussels to prepare for summit
- Dec. 12: EU ministers meet in Brussels to finalize summit preparations
- Dec. 14: EU summit -- this is when U.K. wants EU to sign off on divorce terms so talks can move on to trade
To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Ross-Thomas in London at erossthomas@bloomberg.net, Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net, Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Heather Harris at hharris5@bloomberg.net.
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
