U.K. Grasps for Brexit Fix in Last-Ditch Attempt to Get Deal
- Negotiators ponder using 1969 agreement as escape route
- EU looking at reassurances over temporary nature of backstop
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With just a week to go until Theresa May has to put her Brexit deal to Parliament for a make-or-break vote, U.K. negotiators are reaching into obscure international treaty law to find a fix for the most toxic part of the divorce.
May is sending Attorney General Geoffrey Cox back to Brussels on Tuesday to try to negotiate legally binding changes to the so-called Irish backstop. If he succeeds then May’s deal has a chance of getting through Parliament next week, allowing for an orderly divorce. If he fails, Britain tumbles into unprecedented political uncertainty -- with Brexit probably delayed.