The time is running out for Theresa May to save her Brexit deal

Theresa May has four days to save the Brexit deal.
Conservatives and DUP to meet to discuss concerns over plan for Northern Ireland.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says the deal failed because of the "grubby" Tory-DUP deal.

LONDON — Theresa May has been told that she has just four days to seal a Brexit deal or face delays in the process after the DUP derailed her attempt at the final minute.

The prime minister will meet with the DUP's leader, Arlene Foster, in the next 24 hours in order to try and convince the party that she is not seeking to separate Northern Ireland in any way from the rest of the UK.

Downing Street have insisted that a deal is still possible, but European officials are concerned that this incident is proof that May does not have control over the political situation in her own country, with the DUP scuppering the proposed deal between the UK and EU.

One official told The Times: "This is what we have been worried about for months." German finance minister Peter Altmaier said: "We are in the middle of a very, very complicated process. It is very difficult."

It was widely reported on Monday that May had agreed a deal with the Irish government that there would be "regulatory alignment" between Northern Ireland and the EU.

However, this was met with incredulity from the DUP with Foster warning in a press conference that they "will not accept" any such deal.

Senior sources told Business Insider that May was forced to leave talks with Juncker in order to speak to the DUP leader on the phone. The talks ended shortly afterwards with May then announcing that no deal had been reached.

It is understood that Foster had been briefed on the agreement that was to be presented to the EU, but had not seen the specific wording, which then caused it to collapse.

The Conservatives are in a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP, meaning they rely on the party's 10 MPs to pass important legislation in Parliament.

Talks are expected to occur between the two parties on Tuesday, aiming to ease Unionist concerns about the status of Northern Ireland after Brexit.

EU sources told The Times that unless a deal was reached by Friday, it was unlikely to be passed at the crucial European Council summit next week.

EU heads of state will meet to decide whether "sufficient progress" has been made in phase one of Brexit talks in order to allow negotiations to begin on trade.

Progress needs to have been made on three key issues – the Irish border, the financial settlement and citizens' rights.

If "sufficient progress" isn't met, Brexit negotiations will be delayed even further, not allowing discussions about transition or trade to start, and throwing the whole process into disrepute.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on Monday he was "surprised and disappointed" that May appeared to have gone back on the deal on the Irish border he had agreed with her this morning.

"The responsibility of any prime minister is to ensure that they can follow through on agreements that they make and we are surprised and disappointed that they haven’t been able to," he told a press conference.

May told reporters on Monday: "On many of the issues there is a common understanding and crucially it is clear we want to move forward together.

"There are a couple of issues, some differences do remain, which require further negotiation and consultation. And those will continue but we will reconvene before the end of the week and I am also confident we will conclude this positively."

Tory MP and prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said: "The Conservative Party has always been for the union. The basic premise is that the UK and Northern Ireland must leave on the same basis and Northern Ireland cannot stay de facto in the single market and customs union."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted that talks had failed because of the "grubby deal" between the Conservatives and the DUP.

The reason for today#emo#s fail... @ Jeremy Corbyn

The time is running out for Theresa May to save her Brexit deal

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