UK prime minister Theresa May said a ‘no-deal’ Brexit would be better for Britain than any Canada-style agreement put on the table by Brussels, as it would threaten the unity and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.
A number of Conservative MPs and ministers have suggested she should consider a free trade deal that is similar to the one brokered between Canada and the 27 member bloc, but critics have argued it would be unacceptable because the EU would offer such a deal only to mainland Britain, while insisting that Northern Ireland remained part of a separate EU customs territory.
Speaking as she travelled to the UN General Assembly in New York, Mrs May said her Chequers plan was viable proposal that addressed the need to keep an open border. Asked if a no deal was better than a Canada plus deal, Mrs May said: “First of all I have always said no deal is better than a bad deal.
“I think a bad deal would be for example a deal that broke up the United Kingdom. We want to maintain the unity of the United Kingdom.”
“What we have put on the table is a good deal; it’s a deal which retains the union of the United Kingdom, our constitutional integrity. It’s a deal that provides for no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, protects jobs and enables us to have a good trading relationship with Europe and also the rest of the world.”
On Monday, Mrs May’s cabinet agreed to support her Chequers Brexit plan, in spite of strong criticism from EU leaders at a summit in Salzburg last week who said it will not work.
On Friday, Mrs May said the negotiations has reached an “impasse” and called on the EU to show the UK more respect.
Speaking on Tuesday she said she welcomed Donald Tusk’s clarification that “actually the EU side does want to look at a deal.”
“If they have concerns they need to detail those concerns to us, and if they have counter-proposals, let’s hear the counter proposals. And then we can discuss those and take it forward.”
She also insisted that she believed the UK can still “get to a good deal”.