The European council president has said the UK is prepared to either cancel Brexit or to depart with no deal if MPs vote down the settlement secured by Theresa May with Brussels.
Speaking at the G20 summit in Argentina, Donald Tusk said there was no other deal on offer and the only options were to remain in the EU or leave with no deal.
“The European Union has just agreed an orderly divorce with the United Kingdom,” he said. “A few days before the vote in the House of Commons it is becoming more and more clear that this deal is the best possible, in fact the only possible one.
“If this deal is rejected in the Commons, we are left with, as was already stressed a few weeks ago by prime minister May, an alternative. No deal or no Brexit at all. I want to reassure you that the EU is prepared for every scenario.”
Tusk’s comments came as EU officials also dismissed May’s suggestion to MPs on Thursday that extending Brexit talks could result in renegotiating the deal, as Brussels awaits the next twist in the British political drama.
EU officials were perplexed by the prime minister’s comments to the House of Commons liaison committee on Thursday that extending article 50 would mean “you are then on the business of renegotiating the deal”. Although May went on to say that the current deal was the only one on offer, her remarks raised eyebrows in Brussels.
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