Drama within the party

Theresa May fights rebellion over Brexit deal. ‘I will see it through,’ she says.

British Prime Minister Theresa May battled to salvage a draft Brexit deal and her political future as ministers resigned and members of her own party plotted to oust her.

The Conservative leader said yesterday she believed with “every fibre of my being” in the Brexit course she had set, hours after facing a hostile parliament and seeing four ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, quit the government.

Members of parliament on all sides warned her there was no way the plan could win their approval, but she dismissed calls to quit, saying: “Am I going to see this through? Yes!”.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Northern Ireland’s Democratic

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Unionist Party (DUP), whose 10 MPs help May command a slim majority, would vote against the deal.

Their alliance with the Tories is over unless May is replaced, the paper said, citing sources close to DUP leader Arlene Foster.

The prime minister admitted “concerns about the backstop” solution to the Irish border question within the deal, which Brexit supporters fear would keep Britain tied indefinitely into a customs union.

Critics also believe May has conceded too much to Brussels in other key areas, while EU supporters are calling for a second referendum on a final deal.

May, however, said there would be no second vote “as far as I’m concerned”.

The 585-page draft aims to ensure a smooth divorce from the EU after more than four decades of membership and outlines a transition period for both sides to adjust to the break.

Key provisions seek to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland, protect citizens’ rights and settle Britain’s last bill.

Amid the political turmoil, the pound dropped by 2% against the dollar to a one-month low and a similar amount against the euro.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the Brexit hardline European Research Group, submitted a letter of no-confidence in the prime minister saying: “It would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside.”

At least 48 letters from Conservative MPs are required to trigger a vote of no-confidence in the party leader, but a majority of the party’s 315 lawmakers would have to vote against May in order for her to be ousted.

Although other MPs have already sent letters, all eyes were on Rees- Mogg given his influence over Brexit supporting MPs.

The MP said that a challenge could be launched within weeks.

But veteran MP Kenneth Clarke, an arch-europhile, told Sky News May would win any confidence vote, “There isn’t an alternative.”

EU leaders will hold an extraordinary Brexit summit on Nov 25.

If they approve the agreement, the British parliament is scheduled to vote on it in early December.

Raab said there would be a devastating impact on public trust in the government unless it changed course on Brexit.

“I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto,” he said in his resignation letter. — AFP

It would be in the interest of the party and the country if she (May) were to stand aside.