Brexit deal can't be renegotiated: EU leaders

The leaders of the European Union (EU) on Tuesday clearly said that the United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement on leaving the bloc would not be renegotiated, in what was a setback for embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May.

May, who was on a whirlwind tour in the EU region, flew to The Hague to meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for talks on the Brexit deal. She then paid a visit to Berlin to hold deliberations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She also went to Brussels and met European Council President Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, CNN reported.

In all the meetings, the leaders reiterated their stand that the agreement would not be given a relook, adding that it was the only deal possible.

May, who is holding frantic meetings with the EU leaders is hoping to get "reassurances" from the EU over the arrangements pertaining to the Irish border. The Irish backstop is a part of the deal to prevent the return of border infrastructure between Northern Ireland and Ireland, as per the report.

"The backstop is a necessary guarantee for the people of Northern Ireland," the British Prime Minister said after meeting with Merkel in Britain. She is set to meet her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar in Dublin on Wednesday.

On Monday, May postponed a crucial parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal that spurred a major furore in the House of Commons, with many British MPs calling for her resignation.

Although she did not divulge a new date for the crucial vote, May acknowledge that she would lose the vote by a "significant margin", while expressing hope that the problems in the backstop agreement, the main sticky point for the British MPs, would be resolved.

The British Parliament has been debating on the Brexit deal since December 4, the culmination of which was supposed to be the parliamentary vote on December 11 that would make or break the way in which the UK would be exiting from the European Union in March next year.