Fearing defeat, May pulls vote on her Brexit deal
All signs pointed to big defeat for PM in Tuesday vote
London, Dec. 10: British Prime Minister Theresa May abruptly postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal on Monday, throwing Britain’s plan to leave the European Union into chaos after admitting that she faced a rout.
Ms May said that she is calling off Tuesday’s crucial vote on her Brexit deal because it “will be rejected by a significant margin”. Ms May’s move on the eve of the scheduled parliamentary vote opens up an array of possible outcomes ranging from a disorderly Brexit without a deal, a lastminute deal clinched just weeks before Britain’s March 29 exit, or another EU referendum.
Announcing the delay, Mr May was laughed at by some members of Parliament when she said there was broad support for her deal reached with the EU last month, the result of 18 months of tortuous negotiations, and that she had listened carefully to different views over it.
With her position at home in open jeopardy, Ms May said she would go back to the EU and seek reassurances over the socalled Irish backstop, aimed at ensuring there will be no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland as a result of Brexit. “If we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin,” Ms May told Parliament, adding that she was confident it was the right deal.
“We will therefore defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the House at this time,” Ms May said. The UK would meanwhile step up contingency planning for a no- deal Brexit when it is due to leave on March 29.
The vote postponement marks what many MPs cast as the collapse of Ms May’s attempt to forge a compromise under which the UK would exit the EU while staying largely within its economic orbit.
If we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin — Theresa May,
UK PM
Brussels, Dec. 10: British Prime Minister Theresa May has postponed Parliament’s vote on her European Union divorce deal to avoid a shattering defeat - a decision that throws her Brexit plans into chaos.
All signs had pointed to a big defeat for the prime minister in the vote planned for Tuesday. But postponing the vote is a fresh humiliation for May, who became prime minister after Britain's 2016 decision to leave the EU.
May has been battling on Brexit ever since - first to strike a divorce deal with the bloc, then to sell it to skeptical British lawmakers before the U. K. leaves the bloc on March 29.
Both Conservative and opposition Labour Party lawmakers have said they would not back the divorce deal that May and EU leaders agreed on last month.
The foreign minister of Belgium says the European Union might be willing to modify minor details of its Brexit agreement with the U. K. but that wholesale changes are out of the question.
Mr Didier Reynders told reporters in Brussels that it's always “possible to discuss some details but we ( know) the limits and the red lines of the European Union.” But he added: “it is quite difficult to change important elements.”
Mr Reynders said he is “quite pessimistic” about the future of Brexit given developments in London.
He said he wants to hear exactly what Prime Minister Theresa May wants and that things would be clearer after she addresses the U. K. Parliament on Monday.
The Dutch foreign minister says the European Union would study any new Brexit offer that British Prime Minister Theresa May makes but that chances are slim it would be accepted.
Minister Stef Block spoke in Brussels before May was due to address the British parliament on Monday afternoon about the divorce deal between Britain and the EU and was unaware of exactly what she might announce.
He says “of course we will look carefully at any proposal she might make.”
Blok added: “But we know how difficult it has been to reach agreement. So if there will be talks, it won't be easy.”
The House of Commons in London is due to vote Tuesday on whether to accept or reject the Brexit deal, and signs point to a big defeat for May's Brexit deal. PM May will make an emergency statement to Parliament about Brexit, amid reports that a crucial vote on her EU divorce deal will be postponed. – AP
Both Conservative and opposition Labour Party lawmakers have said they would not back the divorce deal.
May said she would seek ‘ assurances’ from other European leaders ahead of an EU summit later this week.
EU’s top court has ruled that Britain can change its mind, boosting the hopes of people who want to stay in the EU.