British PM heading for Brussels for talks on future ties

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Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she would return to Brussels this week to hammer out Britain's future relationship with the EU -- and overthrowing her would not help negotiations.

After a tumultuous week in which the draft divorce deal agreed between London and the European Union was slammed in parliament, May said the proposed withdrawal accord would only be signed off if the future relationship deal was satisfactory.

May said the week ahead would be "critical" in the Brexit talks.

And while hardcore Brexiteers in her centre-right Conservative Party want her replaced, she said that as things stood, they did not have the numbers to trigger a no-confidence motion.

"I will be going back to Brussels," May told Sky News television, saying she would meet European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The focus this week will be on the future relationship.

"We won't agree the leaving part... until we've got what we want in the future relationship, because these two go together."
"A change of leadership at this point isn't going to make the negotiations any easier and it's not going to change the parliamentary arithmetic."
Asked what she would do if the vote was lost, May said: "There's a process that parliament will go through. Were it the case that the deal was lost then the government would come back with their proposals for what the next step was."