UK leader: Talk of leadership during Brexit ‘irritating’

LONDON – British Prime Minister Theresa May concedes that she gets “irritated” by the debate over her leadership during Brexit negotiations.

She told the BBC in an interview scheduled for broadcast Monday that she is concerned for the country’s future, not her own, as talks about Britain’s upcoming exit from the European Union continue.

May faces a split in her Conservative Party, with some influential figures preferring a more complete break with the EU than she is advocating. Roughly 50 hard-liners met Tuesday night to discuss her possible ouster.

She said the leadership talk can be distracting, adding that “I get a little bit irritated, but this debate is not about my future. This debate is about the future of the people of the U.K. and the future of the United Kingdom.”