May puts on positive face after defections
After the resignations of three of her party’s MPs over Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May came away yesterday from more talks on preventing the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union, with both she and the EU’s chief deeming their meeting ‘‘constructive’’.
No breakthrough was announced from the meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels between May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. But they promised that their respective negotiating teams ‘‘would continue to explore the options in a positive spirit’’, and agreed to meet again before the end of the month.
May has been trying to persuade the EU to revise the draft agreement on Britain’s withdrawal because MPs in parliament have refused to approve it. But the EU has steadfastly refused to reopen the 585-page legal text.
The stalemate over the divorce deal has raised fears of Britain leaving without an agreement on its departure or future relations with the EU, a scenario that could cause severe economic disruptions for both sides. It has also raised the possibility of May’s government seeking to delay its exit to wrap up negotiations.
Brexit-driven political cracks yawned wider earlier in the day as three pro-European MPs quit May’s ruling Conservative Party to join a new centrist group of independent MPs who oppose her determination to take Britain out of the EU with or without a divorce deal.
Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston resigned to join eight ex-opposition Labour Party MPs in an alliance dubbed the Independent Group. The defections mark the biggest shakeup in decades for Britain’s political parties.
Soubry, Allen and Wollaston accused May of a ‘‘dismal failure’’ to stand up to Eurosceptics.
Their departures prompted former prime minister David Cameron to issue a stark warning, suggesting the party was at risk of splitting over Brexit.
The defectors, described by Allen as the ‘‘three amigos’’, said a significant number of their colleagues were also prepared to quit.
Asked if she could ever return to the fold, Allen said: ‘‘I can’t imagine it, not least because if we do our jobs right, there won’t be a Tory Party to go back to. We are about creating something better that is bang smack in the centre ground of British politics.’’
The trio said Brexit had ‘‘redefined’’ the party and had undone previous attempts to modernise it. ‘‘The Right wing, the hardline, anti-EU awkward squad that have destroyed every leader for the last 40 years are now running the Conservative Party from top to toe,’’ Soubry said.
– AP, Telegraph Group