STUBBORN & HUMILIATED
»»pm on brink as she faces crushing loss »»leo: it’ll be bad whatever the decision
EMBATTLED Theresa May tonight faces a catastrophic parliamentary defeat on Brexit – as Leo Varadkar warned the result will be bad whatever happens.
More than 100 Tory MPS are expected to inflict a crushing blow on the British premier by finally rejecting her deal.
The defeat would throw the whole of Europe into uncertainty – and leave both the UK and Ireland in turmoil.
But her premiership now hangs in the balance with Labour threatening to table a no confidence vote in her government.
Downing Street sources did not even rule out the PM quitting after a defeat.
Desperate Mrs May yesterday gave one final roll of the dice, warning that no Brexit at all was the “more likely” outcome if her deal is defeated.
The DUP’S Nigel Dodds warned that far from reassuring his party over the controversial backstop, letters from EU chiefs had heightened their concerns.
He added: “There is nothing new. Nothing has changed. Instead of meaningless letters, the Prime Minister should now ask for and deliver changes to the
withdrawal agreement.” Leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-mogg added: “Only change to the withdrawal agreement matters.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the letter from eurocrats Donald Tusk and Jean-claude Juncker as “warm words and aspirations” which fell short of legal assurances.
He added: “I’m sure members across the House will not be fooled by what has been produced today.”
It came after Mrs May conceded she “fully understood” the compromises would not go far enough for some MPS. She confirmed the EU had rejected her demand to set a fixed end date for the backstop.
But appealing to rebels on her own benches, Mrs May said: “No, it’s not perfect and yes it’s a compromise. But when the history books are written, people will look at the decision of the House and ask did we deliver on the vote to leave the EU?
“Did we safeguard our economy, our security and our union? Or did we let the British people down?”
Yesterday Mr Varadkar warned Ireland could never be fully ready for any possible outcome. Speaking to reporters after Fine Gael’s winter think-in in Dublin last night, he added: “We will be prepared, but I’m not going to say everything’s going to be fine.
“I hope the withdrawal treaty will be ratified by Westminster and that we can get straight into talks on the future relationship.
“But that is a matter for them and as a mark of respect for their democracy and their democratic institutions that we allow them to have their debate,
allow them to have their votes and to reassess matters then. I still think a no-deal Brexit is unlikely but we need to be prepared for it.
“We’ll have further progress on the legislative programme, on that omnibus Bill to prepare us from a legislative point of view for Brexit, making all the changes to the laws that we need to make. Also further information on the planning for transport, further information on medicines, we’ve identified a certain number of medicines that may be in short supply, so we’ve got to make contingencies to ensure we continue to have a supply of those medicines.
“And also some more progress on the common travel area, ensuring that the common travel area stays in place no matter what happens.”
Mr Varadkar said contingency plans are in place for our border access points.
He added: “The ports will be Brexitready, as will Dublin Airport.
“Also we’ll have veterinary officials and customs officials in place, but I shouldn’t pretend to anyone that any country can be fully ready for Brexit.
“There is no good Brexit and a no-deal would have a very serious impact on Ireland and surrounding Europe.
“We will be prepared, but I’m not going to say everything’s going to be fine.
“There will be disruption and there will be negative impacts, but we’ll be as prepared as we possibly can be.”
THERESA May faces a humiliating defeat today over a key vote by MPS on Brexit that could lead to her political end.
The deal brokered with 27 EU leaders in 2017 has been roundly slammed at Westminster.
Of course, this is not just a bad day for the UK and EU, it’s even worse for Ireland.
We are the only country in Europe with a land border with Britain, they are our biggest trading partners and our closest neighbours.
Brexit in whatever form it takes will be a disaster for Ireland.
Let’s just hope we are prepared for the worst because that is what may come about.