Europe will hurt its own economy if it refuses to back down on the backstop and get a deal, Liam Fox warns Liam Fox said Europe's economies would be badly damaged by a no deal Brexit He said EU politicians should reflect on the wider economy and cut a deal Trade Secretary said Brussels should make concessions on Ireland for a deal Refusal will force a crash out and mean politicians explaining it to their voters By Tim Sculthorpe, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline Published: 09:37 GMT, 17 February 2019 | Updated: 09:38 GMT, 17 February 2019 Viewcomments Europe will hurt its own economy if it refuses to back down on the Irish border backstop to strike a Brexit deal, Liam Fox warned today. The Trade Secretary said EU leaders should consider the global economic slowdown as they wrestle with the Brexit endgame. Dr Fox said politicians on the continent would have to answer to their own voters if they force Britain to leave without a deal. Europe will hurt its own economy if it refuses to back down on the Irish border backstop to strike a Brexit deal, Liam Fox (pictured in Westminster on Thursday) warned today The border backstop protocol seeks to guarantee there will never be a hard border in Ireland by keeping Britain in the EU customs union until there is a replacement trade deal (file image) Following the crushing defeat of the deal in Parliament last month, the Prime Minister is demanding Brussels offer legally binding guarantees on the backstop. The protocol seeks to guarantee there will never be a hard border in Ireland by keeping Britain in the EU customs union until there is a replacement trade deal. But Brexiteers insist the backstop cannot be allowed to last indefinitely - meaning it must either have a time limit or unilateral exit clause, or be replaced entirely. Brussels has so far refused to engage on the detail of the backstop - and complained Britain has not made a specific request for changes. But Dr Fox insisted the EU had to be flexible to ensure the two year negotiation does not fail at the final hurdle over the issue. He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'This is a Europe that's got European elections and a number of potential elections - a potential Spanish election - coming up. 'There comes a point where politicians have to park ideological issues and recognise the importance and dominance of real economic issues.' The Trade Secretary added: 'As we've got closer, with a deteriorating economic picture both globally and in Europe, I think there's an increasing worry about the economic impact, and that is necessarily having an effect on political views in European capitals around the effect on Brexit. 'The question is, given those worries how would European countries explain to their electorates that there was a proposal from Britain to get agreement, by altering the backstop, which was then rejected on ideological grounds, when the consequence of that could be that you saw recession spreading to the people of Europe?' Brussels (including negotiator Michel Barnier left and EU Council President Donald Tusk right) has so far refused to engage on the detail of the backstop - and complained Britain has not made a specific request for changes Referring to the Commons vote for changes, Dr Fox said: 'I think we have behaved very reasonably. 'The House of Commons made clear that if we get resolution of that then they will give their agreement for the whole of the withdrawal process to continue. 'It would seem to be a strange thing on which to hang much of the economic well-being of the people of Europe.' Mrs May has issued a desperate plea to Conservative MPs to unite and deliver on Brexit, urging her party to 'move beyond what divides us' and sacrifice 'personal preferences' for the national interest. The Prime Minister's rallying cry follows another tumultuous week in Westminster which saw tensions in the party reach boiling point, with one minister accusing Eurosceptic colleagues of 'treachery'. Theresa May (pictured at Downing Street on Thursday) has issued a desperate plea to Conservative MPs to unite and deliver on Brexit, urging her party to 'move beyond what divides us' and sacrifice 'personal preferences' for the national interest Mrs May, in a letter to all 317 Conservative MPs comes after her Brexit plans suffered a humiliating Commons defeat on Valentine's Day. The Premier said the result was 'disappointing' but vowed that the Government would continue its work to secure changes to the Irish border backstop. She announced that she will return to Brussels for further talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker next week, and revealed plans to speak to the leaders of every EU member state over the coming days. Despite the unity plea, it emerged today that a senior figure in the Brexiteer European Research Group branded the talks a 'waste of time' in a private Tory WhatsApp group. Steve Baker told Tory MPs that Mrs May and Brussels are 'working together to run down the clock' to try and pass the deal in late March, the Sunday Times said. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility