May calls for European leaders to drop Brexit demands
Theresa May appealed directly to fellow European Union leaders to drop "unacceptable" Brexit demands that she said could rip Britain apart.
The Prime Minister is urging the bloc to respond in kind to her "serious and workable" plan.
They listened politely for a few minutes but said afterwards that a stalemate on the Irish border was unbroken -- though some EU diplomats detected a cracking of ice around the spectacular summit dinner table, laid in the Salzburg theatre used to film a dramatic escape finale in the film "The Sound of Music".
Earlier, EU officials insisted May had to give more ground.
After Wiener schnitzel and four hours of wrangling over Europe's migrant problem, May was given the floor and tried to win over her 27 peers by effectively asking them what they would do if they were asked to agree a "legal separation" of their countries -- something she says the EU is asking for by insisting Northern Ireland might stay under EU economic rules.
Maintaining a united front that refuses to let May bypass the negotiations run by Michel Barnier of the European Commission, they did not respond to her. They will discuss the issue among themselves over lunch on Thursday, setting what Barnier hopes can be a path to a final deal in two months.
"I believe that I have put forward serious and workable proposals," May told the summit, according to a senior British government source. "We will of course not agree on every detail, but I hope that you will respond in kind."
Published: by Radio NewsHub