Brexit result: EU takes less than 10 minutes to reject MPs’ demand to bin Irish backstop

Spokesperson says withdrawal agreement is still not up for renegotiation

The EU has rejected MPs’ latest demand to scrap the Irish backstop from the Brexit withdrawal agreement, just minutes after the Commons voted on the issue.

MPs backed the so-called Brady amendment on Tuesday night by 317 votes to 301, instructing the government to ditch the controversial clause and find “alternative” ways to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.

But less than ten minutes after MPs walked through the division lobbies in Westminster, a spokesperson for the European Council said the backstop was “part of the withdrawal agreement, and the withdrawal agreement is not open for renegotiation”.

“The withdrawal agreement is and remains the best and only way to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union,” the spokesperson for president Donald Tusk said.

“The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement, and the withdrawal agreement is not open for re-negotiation. The December European Council conclusions are very clear on this point.”

The spokesperson said they welcomed and shared “the UK parliament’s ambition to avoid a no-deal scenario”, a reference to the passing of the separate Spelman amendment to rule out a no-deal in principle.

They called on the UK government to “clarify its intentions with respect to its next steps as soon as possible” and said a “reasoned request” for an extension of Article 50 would be considered.

MPs however rejected the so-called Cooper amendment, which would have taken concrete steps to avoid a no deal by compelling the government to seek an extension of the Brexit negotiating period if the UK looks set to crash out.

Brussels also reiterated that the UK could choose to change its red lines if it wanted changes made to the political declaration on the future relationship – which sets out how closely the UK and EU will be linked in the future. Theresa May has ruled out keeping freedom of movement, a customs union, single market membership, and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice; the EU says this limits how close the relationship can be.

The reaction may surprise some Brexiteers. Andrew Bridgen, a Tory Eurosceptic, said ahead of the vote that the EU would “blink and offer us better terms” if MPs told them to remove the backstop.