Comments by House of Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom
- Says Theresa May will continue to seek changes to the backstop
- Says it would not make sense for the EU to refuse to negotiate
- Says EU does know what UK wants on Irish backstop
- Government is to keep a no-deal Brexit outcome on the table
It certainly isn't a disaster but it does put them in a tough spot in negotiating a compromise with the European Union. With May not even being able to hold the floor in a symbolic vote yesterday, there's likely less incentive for European leaders to push themselves to the limit in offering her concessions on the backstop.
Remember, those concessions will still fall short of being legally-binding or including a time limit so yesterday's defeat may just put off European lawmakers from working as hard to give May what she wants over the coming weeks.
