In response to May’s statement on Brexit yesterday, CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn said ” the government’s move to consult more widely is welcome, as is the commitment to scrap the settled status charge for EU citizens”. But she criticized that “the fundamentals have not changed” as “Parliament remains in deadlock while the slope to a cliff edge steepens.” She urged that “government should accept that no-deal in March 2019 must be off the table”.

Allie Renison, head of Europe and trade policy at the Institute of Directors also complained “the stasis continues”. She also noted that “two-thirds of our members say that leaving without a deal would be negative for their businesses and nearly 80% made clear they don’t want to see it happen.” And, “we desperately need politicians to get serious about finding a way forward.”

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement on Brexit plan B yesterday was rather uninspiring. In short, she finally acknowledged the need to have in change in her approach and laid out three areas. Those include, being “more flexible, open and inclusive” in engaging the parliament, embedding the “the strongest possible protections on workers’ rights and the environment”. And finally, ensuring the “commitment to no hard border in Northern Ireland and Ireland”. They’re hardly anything new.

Meanwhile, she continued to oppose to a second referendum as that would “damage social cohesion by undermining faith in our democracy.” And she doesn’t believe there is a majority for a second referendum. On Article 50 extension, she claimed that EU would not approve it unless UK had a plan for approving a deal. And the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit would be to revoke Article 50.

May will continue cross-party talks and provide further update next Tuesday.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is due to return to the parliament today to set out her Plan B on Brexit. The center of focus is her amendments regarding the Irish border backstop. May is trying to put up something that’s, at the very least, acceptable to her fellow Conservatives and Northern Ireland ally DUP. But the Guardian reported that no solutions were found so far during the conference call with the Cabinet on Sunday evening. The consensus was only to renew efforts to find acceptable changes to the backstop arrangement with the EU, without any specifics.

Trade Minister Liam Fox warned over the weekend that “failure to deliver Brexit would produce a yawning gap between parliament and the people, a schism in our political system with unknowable consequences”. And, that could trigger a “a political tsunami”. And, he added that “Parliament has not got the right to hijack the Brexit process because Parliament said to the people of this country: ‘we make a contract with you, you will make the decision and we will honour it'”.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reiterated the call for May to rule out no-deal Brexit. He said in a statement that “We’re ready to talk to the government and others in parliament about a sensible alternative plan, but not while Theresa May is wasting 171,000 pounds an hour of taxpayers’ money on dangerous and unnecessary no-deal brinkmanship.” And, “If the prime minister is serious about finding a solution that can command support in parliament and bring our country together, she must listen to the majority of MPs, as well as members of her own cabinet, and take ‘no deal’ off the table.”