British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would seek a “pragmatic solution” to a parliamentary impasse over the terms on which Britain leaves the European Union when she tries to reopen talks with Brussels.

May, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, shed little light on how she intended to solve the issue that has provoked most opposition from her lawmakers - post-Brexit arrangements for the border between the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Last month May suffered a record parliament defeat over her Brexit plans, and on Tuesday lawmakers instructed her to return to Brussels to renegotiate arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Lawmakers “would... be happy with the current backstop if there was a time limit or unilateral exit mechanism,” May wrote.

However, Ireland and EU negotiators have rejected any time-limit on the so-called ‘backstop’ – a set of fall-back plans that would retain an open UK-Ireland border if Britain and the EU fail to reach a longer-term trade agreement in future talks.

Brexit supporters fear an unlimited backstop would effectively give the EU a veto on future British trade arrangements with other countries, and weaken economic ties between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

May is expected to visit Brussels in the coming days.

“When I return to Brussels, I will be battling for Britain and Northern Ireland, I will be armed with a fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination to agree to a pragmatic solution that delivers the Brexit the British people voted for,” May said.

Separately, May’s office rejected a report in the Mail on Sunday newspaper that her advisers were considering an early election on June 6 if she got a Brexit deal through parliament.

Evacuation plan

British officials have revived Cold War emergency plans to relocate the royal family should there be riots in London if Britain suffers a disruptive departure from the European Union next month, two Sunday newspapers reported.

“These emergency evacuation plans have been in existence since the Cold War, but have now been repurposed in the event of civil disorder following a no-deal Brexit,” the Sunday Times said, quoting an unnamed source from the government’s Cabinet Office, which handles sensitive administrative issues.

The Mail on Sunday also said it had learnt of plans to move the royal family, including The Queen, to safe locations away from London.

Last month an annual speech by the 92-year-old queen to a local women’s group was widely interpreted in Britain as a call for politicians to reach an agreement over Brexit.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative lawmaker and keen supporter of Brexit, told the Mail on Sunday he believed the plans showed unnecessary panic by officials over a no-deal Brexit, as senior royals had remained in London during World War Two bombing.

But the Sunday Times said an ex-police officer formerly in charge of royal protection, Dai Davies, expected The Queen would be moved out of London if there was unrest.

“If there were problems in London, you would remove the royal family away from those key sites,” Davies was quoted as saying.

- Reuters