U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is facing crisis again after pro-Brexit ministers paired up with Conservative hardliners to demand a clean break from the European Union's customs system, rejecting her plea for a compromise solution.
May was outnumbered at a meeting of her inner Cabinet on Wednesday, with ministers unable to agree on either of the middle-of-the-road customs options she had proposed.
Speaking afterward, one senior British official said that with both proposals apparently dead, she could have as little as a week to secure a compromise or face the stark choice between staying in Europe's customs union or leaving without a deal.