Theresa May’s Brexit options

The EU and Britain face a “moment of truth” for Brexit negotiations at a crunch summit Wednesday, where leaders will decide whether enough progress has been made in talks to warrant a special summit in November. Disagreement over the EU’s so-called Irish backstop -- a guarantee by both sides that there will be no hard border in Ireland -- is the biggest obstacle for UK in March.

Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit plan has drawn criticism with former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and ex-Brexit secretary David Davis repeating calls for the UK to “chuck Chequers” and seek a looser free trade deal with Brussels like Canada. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier says that Northern Ireland should stay in the EU’s Customs Union to avoid a land border with the EU -- Johnson has said the EU’s fallback position for the Irish border would mean Northern Ireland was “annexed” by Brussels.