European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement on offer is the "best deal possible" and the "only deal possible", with "no room whatsoever for renegotiation".
He said: "I will see Mrs May this evening and I have to say here in the Parliament, as I did say before in this Parliament, the deal we have achieved is the best deal possible – it is the only deal possible."
Mrs May is making a whistle-stop tour of Europe after facing humiliation in the House of Commons yesterday as she pulled out of the "meaningful vote" on her Brexit deal.
She claimed she was going back to the EU to get a clarification on the Irish border issue, but faced a brutal grilling by MPs who claimed she was side-stepping the vote to save her job as Prime Minister.
Tory rebels and opposition parties of have all attacked the PM over the 11th hour change of plans, which comes despite Mrs May insisting the deal she was due to present to the House of Commons was the only one possible.
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“There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation”
Jean-Claude Juncker
MEPs applauded as Mr Juncker said: "There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation, but of course there is room if used intelligently, there is room enough to give further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the Withdrawal Agreement.
"This will not happen: everyone has to note that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be reopened."
He said earlier that Brexit was a "surprise guest" at the European Council, adding: "I'm surprised because we had reached an agreement on the 25th November together with the Government of the United Kingdom.
"Notwithstanding that, it would appear that there are problems right at the end of the road."
++THERESA MAY DELAYS BREXIT VOTE: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?++
PRIME MINISTER: Theresa May is facing a fight on all sides over Brexit (Pic: PA)
Mrs May has said she is not trying to renegotiate her Brexit deal, but is instead looking to secure the Britain's future with Northern Ireland.
The PM is heading to Europe with a mindset that will "guarantee she comes back with nothing which is going to alleviate the fears" of the DUP, its Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson has warned.
The unionist MP hit out at the Prime Minister for continuing to support her deal despite widespread opposition to it in Parliament.
He warned on BBC Radio 4's Today she could only come back from talks with reassurances over the Irish border backstop which "don't mean anything when they are put against a legally-binding international agreement".
EU: Jean-Claude Juncker warned there will be no renegotiation (Pic: EPA) Related Articles
LAST GASP: Jean-Claude Juncker will meet Theresa May this evening to discuss Brexit (Pic: EPA)
Mr Juncker said the Irish backstop was the "big problem", explaining: "We have a common determination to do everything to be not in the situation one day to use that backstop.
"But we have to prepare: it's necessary for the entire coherence of what we have agreed with Britain and it is necessary for Ireland.
"Ireland will never be left alone."
Tory MP rebels have called for Mrs May to be ousted today amid ongoing fury over her Brexit deal – which is seen as leaving Britain too closely tied to the EU.
WHISTLE-STOP: Theresa May arrives to meet Mark Rutte in The Hague (Pic: GETTY)
Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey suggested that Labour would not table a no-confidence motion until Mrs May returns from her talks with Brussels.
She told Today: "We need to judge when the opportunity arises as to when this would be most successful, and we are currently liaising with various political parties across Westminster."
Asked about Ms Sturgeon's criticism of Labour over a second referendum, she added: "What we have said is that our priority is not at this time for a second referendum.
"We want to secure a deal, we respect the result of the referendum."
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