Britain has been given until the end of Friday to come forward with fresh proposals to break the Brexit deadlock.
EU officials, the BBC reported, have said they are ready to work through the weekend if the UK comes forward with an “acceptable” plan to resolve the impasse over the Northern Ireland backstop.
Theresa May is facing a crunch Commons vote on Tuesday when she takes her Brexit deal back to MPs following its overwhelming rejection in January by a majority of 230.
The British Prime Minister has staked her hopes of getting through the “meaningful vote” this time on securing concessions from the EU on the backstop – which has proved the main stumbling block to an agreement.
Members of Parliament from May’s own Conservative Party, know as Brexiteers, have been demanding legally-binding assurances the UK cannot be tied indefinitely to EU rules through the backstop, intended to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.
However, talks in Brussels on Tuesday between the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and British Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and the UK’s Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay broke up without agreement.
Both sides acknowledged that the meeting had been “difficult”, with reports Mr Barnier complained that Mr Cox had brought forward “a legal solution to a political problem”.
Philip Hammond warned Tory Brexiteers against voting down Mrs May’s deal next week, saying rejecting it would lead to a delay to Brexit.
