Slouching toward Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain was back in Brussels, hoping beyond hope that the E.U. would renegotiate the terms of Brexit. Pleading her case among 27 other European leaders, she was told her ideas were “nebulous and imprecise,” and met with refusal to make any revisions to the agreed-on deal, which has little hope of passing the British Parliament.

Details: Mrs. May wants new, legally binding assurances that the deal’s so-called backstop — keeping Britain under E.U. rules until a new relationship and a Northern Ireland border are worked out — will not become a permanent, trapping arrangement.

Looking ahead: Though further talks could take place, European leaders insisted there would be no legal changes. “This is crystal clear,” the president of the European Commission said. Mrs. May’s impasse is set to remain just that. Unless Brexit is delayed or reversed, or the clock drives Parliament into submission, Britain will chance a disastrous “no-deal” Brexit on March 29. Preparations for that were stepped up on both sides of the English Channel.