Brexit: May faces revolt as she presents deal to cabinet
FACEOFF IN PARLIAMENT British PM struggles to ’sell’ draft agreement reached with Brussels LONDON:
Prime Minister Theresa May was on Wednesday struggling to sell a draft Brexit agreement with Brussels to her cabinet, reaching the unenviable position where both supporters and opponents of UK’s exit from the European Union are united against her.
At the root of the unrest in Westminster is the draft agreement envisaging continuing links with the EU in the form of the UK adhering to a “common rulebook” after leaving on March 29, 2019.
Critics say this isn’t what people voted for in the 2016 referendum, and the developments revived talk about May’s future in office.
Ministers and MPs were considering whether to back the draft agreement, since it will be put to vote in Parliament, where those opposed to Brexit are said to have a majority.
May’s version has enraged hardline Brexiters, with more resignations likely.
Adding grist to the Westminster mill was the front-page of mass circulation Evening Standard edited by George Osborne, who was sacked by May as the chancellor.
It read “EU takes back control”, infuriating his colleagues in the Conservative Party and others.
The withdrawal agreement secured by May after days and nights of negotiations in Brussels is seen as handing back control to the EU, the opposite of what the 2016 Leave vote was supposed to achieve - to regain control and sovereignty from Brussels.
Senior Conservative leader and former attorney general Dominic Grieve reacted to a leaked memo from deputy EU negotiator Sabine Weyand that reportedly said that under the draft agreement, “the EU will retain all the controls”.
He said: “I could not look my constituents in the eye and say this would be a better deal than the one we have as a member of the EU and so I will vote against it.
“A choice between this miserable Brexit and no deal is no choice at all. The British public deserve a real choice between leaving the EU on these terms or sticking with the deal we’ve got inside the EU.”
May struggled to justify her Brexit agreement during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons in the face of persistent questions from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who pointed out the opposition she is facing from within her party. FEB 22: British Prime Minister David Cameron announces the Brexit referendum date as June 23, 2016.
JUNE 23:UK holds referendum on its EU membership. 51.89% of the voters opt for ‘Leave’. JUNE 24: Cameron resigns as British PM.
JULY 13: Theresa May becomes the new Prime Minister. An anti-Brexit protestor holds up placards near the Parliament in London on Wednesday.
FEB 2: The UK government publishes its Brexit White Paper.
JUNE 19: First round of UK-EU
exit negotiations begins. EARLY JANUARY: The
Brexit agreement will be presented to the UK’s House of Commons for approval through a vote. JANUARY-FEBRUARY: If the UK parliament okays the Brexit deal in a vote, the British government will present a new legislation: the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill.
MARCH 29: It’s Brexit Day. It will be marked by a series of government-level declarations.