May begins Brexit hard sell before parliament vote

LONDON: Theresa May will convene her cabinet and update parliament on the newly-agreed Brexit deal yesterday, as the embattled British prime minister begins the tricky task of selling the plan to a skeptical country. May returns to a mutinous parliament after sealing the agreement with European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels, where both

sides insisted the agreement was the best and only option available. But she faces a big battle to win MPs’ approval ahead of a vote next month, with lawmakers from all parties, including Conservative colleagues, opposed. “We can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move on to building a brighter future... Or this house can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one.

“It would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail,” she is to warn lawmakers, according to advance excerpts released by her Downing Street Office. European stock markets rallied at the start of trading yesterday, while the pound was up slightly against the dollar and flat versus the euro on the back of the deal. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index won 1.4 percent to 7,046.73 points compared with the close on Friday. In the euro-zone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index advanced 1.0 percent to 11,315.90 points and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.7 percent to 4,982.54.

The agreement sealed Sunday prepares for Britain’s smooth exit from the EU on March 29, 2019, and sets out a vision for “as close as possible a partnership” afterwards. It covers financial matters, citizens’ rights, provisions to keep open the UK’s land border with Ireland and arrangements for a 21-month post-Brexit transition phase. The lengthy, legally enforceable divorce deal is accompanied by a short political declaration setting out hopes for future ties, including security, trade and migration. Until both documents are approved by the British and European parliaments, all sides are still planning for the possibility of Britain quitting the EU with no new arrangements in place.