UK PM confident of an orderly Brexit

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she can deliver a “smooth and orderly Brexit”, despite a spate of resignations among senior members of her ruling Conservative Party.

She made the claim at a news conference in London on Tuesday, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while attending a two-day summit about the Western Balkans.

The Mail Online said the sight of May and Merkel smiling and supporting each other made them look like a formidable doubles team at the Wimbledon tennis tournament taking place on the other side of the British capital.

May, who weathered resignations earlier in the week from foreign minister Boris Johnson, Brexit secretary David Davis, and several other senior Tories over her preference for Britain’s pending exit from the European Union to be a “soft Brexit”, is now seeking to reassert her authority over her party, the Guardian newspaper noted.

The prime minister refused to be drawn on whether United States President Donald Trump was correct to describe the UK as a country in “turmoil”, saying instead the Brexit white paper the government will unveil on Thursday — the spirit of which prompted the resignations — keeps “faith with the vote of the British people” who chose to leave the EU during a 2016 referendum.

Merkel said it was “a good thing we have proposals on the table”.

May and her ministers drew up the white paper during a marathon cabinet meeting at the prime minister’s rural retreat, Chequers, last Friday. But some ministers subsequently resigned, saying they want a harder Brexit, complete with a cleaner break and an armslength future relationship.

When he resigned, Davis said May had conceded too much too early to the EU, while Johnson said matching EU rules on food and goods relegated the UK to “the status of a colony”.

British voters will wait to see whether the dissent among some ministers and senior party officials translates into a leadership challenge or whether May has weathered the storm and has enough support within the party to deliver the Brexit she wants.

The BBC said Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was upbeat about prospects during a visit to New York.

“After 12 months of negotiations, we have agreed on 80 percent of the negotiations,” he said, noting the remaining 20 percent was achievable by October or November.

The Independent newspaper said Merkel adopted a softer tone during the news conference, saying the EU will consider May’s proposals in “the spirit of friendship”.

“I can only say that, even after Britain has left the EU, we want to have as close a relationship with Britain as possible — which I think is true also for the other European member states,” Merkel said.