British PM warns Brexit may never happen unless deal approved

Prime Minister Theresa May tried to pressure U.K. lawmakers Friday to support her Brexit deal, warning that Britain may never leave the European Union if they vote down the agreement next week.

Battling to stave off a second defeat for the unpopular deal, Mayalso implored the EU to help her make "one more push" to get theagreement through a skeptical Parliament.

British lawmakers are due to vote for a second time Tuesday onthe deal, which they overwhelmingly rejected in January.

If Parliament throws out the deal again, lawmakers willvote on whether to leave the EU without an agreement an idea likely to be rejected or to ask the EU to delayBrexitbeyond thescheduled March 29 departure date.

"Back it and the U.K. will leave the European Union," May said."Reject it and no one knows what will happen."

Negotiations have stalled

In a speech to factory workers in the staunchly pro-Brexitnorthern England port town of Grimsby, May said a delay could leadto "more months and years arguing" over Britain's departure fromthe EU.

"If we go down that road, we may never leave the EU at all,"May told workers at a Danish-owned wind-power factory.

May has been trying to secure changes that can persuade reluctantlegislators to back the deal, but the EU is unwilling to reopen the585-page agreement.

Last-minute negotiations have stalled, with EU leaders sayingBritain has not provided concrete proposals.

May urged EU leaders to help her out, saying "it is in theEuropean interest for the U.K. to leave with a deal."

"It needs just one more pushto address the final specificconcerns of our Parliament," she said.

Later Friday, the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the blocis preparedtogive Britain the unilateral right to leave its customsunion, in a bidto make the Brexit deal acceptable to the U.K. Parliament.

At the heart of the House of Commons' opposition to thealready-negotiated divorce deal is the so-called "backstop."

"EU commits to give U.K. the option to exit the Single CustomsTerritory unilaterally, while the other elements of the backstopmust be maintained to avoid a hard border," Barnier tweetedafter briefing ambassadors of the 27 EU states that are stayingon together after Brexit.

"U.K. will not be forced into customs union against its will," he added.

Barnier saidBritain would still need tohonour its commitment to preserve a border free of controls between EU member Ireland and the British province of NorthernIreland.

Opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn said May's speech Friday morning sounded like "a sign of desperation."

May acknowledged thateven if her deal passes next week, timewill be tight to pass the necessary legislation needed to makeBrexit a reality on March 29.

"If we were simply asking for a bit more time to pass thelegislation we need to implement Brexit once we have agreed thedeal, a delay would be straightforward," she said.

'History will judge'

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt underscored May's appeal to the EU,urging the bloc to be "flexible" because "history will judge bothsides very badly if we get this wrong."

"We want to remain the best of friends with the EU. That meansgetting this agreement through in a way that doesn't inject poisoninto our relations for many years to come," Hunt said.

The EU is frustrated at what it sees as the inability ofBritain's divided government to lay out a clear vision for Brexit and for seeking changes to an agreement that May herself helpednegotiate.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the withdrawal agreement"is already a compromise."

"It was a compromise that took a year and a half to negotiate,involving the EU institutions and 28 governments," he said. "I think we have made a lot of compromises, and what's notevident is what the U.K. government is offering."

Dutch Prime Minister MarkRutte expressed concern thatBrexit was rapidly approachingwithout a deal, and said he would speak with May on Friday evening.

"The Brexit date is getting ever closer. The ball is stillrolling toward the cliffs of Dover," Rutte told journalists.

Rutte said May's plan to amend the withdrawal agreement tosecure parliamentary approval was unclear, and that he did notunderstand what she had meant when she said on Friday that only"one more push" was needed to reach a deal.