Weekends Could Be Cancelled For MPs In Bid To Tackle Extra Brexit Workload

The figures the PM spoke with include Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez, European Council president Donald Tusk, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron, Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar and European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker. 

British and Irish officials have also been in direct contact, it was confirmed, but there are no plans for either May or Barclay to visit Brussels for further talks.

“This process is ongoing, but I think you have seen in public comments from some of the leaders that they are prepared to carry on having conversations about what further assurances and clarifications they can provide,” the Number 10 spokesman added. 

May will hold talks in Downing Street on Thursday with Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, who has expressed concern about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit.

Following a speech on the future of the NHS at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital on Monday, the PM herself claimed that there had been “some further movement” from the EU at the December European Council meeting.

She said: “In the coming days, what we will set out is not just about the EU but also about what we can do domestically.

“So we will be setting out measures which will be specific to Northern Ireland, we will be setting out proposals for a greater role for parliament as we move into the next stage of the negotiation and we are continuing to work on further assurances on further undertakings from the European Union in relation to the concern that has been expressed by parliamentarians.”