May struggles to hold leadership
‘Brexit’ again becomes issue for prime minister
LONDON — When Britain voted last week in an election that ended with Prime Minister Theresa May hanging onto her job by a thread, “Brexit” wasn’t on the ballot.
Even though the country had split nearly down the middle in last year’s referendum — 52 percent to 48 percent — and continues to be closely divided, none of the major parties ran on a platform of reversing the public’s decision to leave the European Union.
The vote has nonetheless been a jolt to the country’s exit plans, raising the fears of diehard Brexiteers, the hopes of those favoring a more limited separation from European allies and the question of whether May will be around to steer the course she’s charted toward a sharp rupture.
“We now have a Parliament that’s gridlocked,” said John Springford, research director for the London-based Center for European Reform. “It doesn’t appear that there’s a majority for hard Brexit, a majority for soft Brexit, or certainly not a majority for remain. It’s a very confused picture.”
Just how vulnerable May has become was underscored Monday when Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, emerged from a meeting with the prime minister and emphasized that the government would have to “put our country’s economic future first and foremost in our minds as we go ahead with Brexit.”
It was also an implicit threat: If Davidson, who was passion- ately favored the “remain” side in the Brexit referendum, withholds the support of Parliament’s 13 Scottish Tories, May no longer has a majority.
The same applies for May’s would-be coalition partner — the right-wing Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.
The party also favors a less rigid break, fearing the consequences of a hard Brexit for an area that depends heavily on trade with an EU member — the Republic of Ireland.
And top members of May’s Cabinet — including Chancellor Philip Hammond — have reportedly taken up the cause of soft Brexit.
May’s proposed version of Brexit involves a complete severance from the central elements of European Union membership, including the single market, the customs union and the European Court of Justice.
Those favoring a soft Brexit have pushed for the country to formally exit the EU but to stay in the single market — perhaps by following a model pioneered by Norway, which is not a member of the 28-nation bloc but enjoys many of the privileges.
What the Nordic country can’t do, however, is control EU immigration. That has made the Norway model a non-starter for Brexit true believers. So far, however, they are sticking by her.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who helped lead the “leave” campaign and was reported on Sunday to be mounting a challenge to May, wrote a column in Monday’s Sun newspaper in which he dismissed the reports.
“To those that say the PM should step down, or that we need another election or even— God help us — a second referendum, I say come off it,” he wrote. “Get a grip, everyone.”